Temptations of Power
by CaptainKai01869
Summary: Problems are in store for my OC Marina after an encounter with Boris Balkov. *Second story in my main Beyblade series, after "A New Blader" and followed by "Loyalties"*
1. Tense First Meetings

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade in any way. The only character I own is Marina as she's my OC. I have permission to use Tari from my friend, Smiffyizdabest. Any other references I make are purely coincidental.

**Temptations of Power**

Chapter 1: Tense First Meetings

It has been three years since Marina joined the Blitzkrieg Boys and made them the Blitzkrieg Bladers. Her and Tala's relationship has become a lot better since what happened with Tala's emotions.

* * *

For the Bladebreakers, they have had their longest time of peace so far and Tyson was becoming careless with his training. They were training outside Tyson's dojo.

"Tyson, what do you think you're doing?" asked Kai as Tyson's blade went flying out the beydish. Another easy win for Kai.

"Give me a break. I've never found it easy to match you." Tyson admitted as he picked up his blade.

"Don't give me that. We haven't had a decent match since before the last tournament." said Kai, obviously not in the mood to accept excuses.

"If Kai can keep his patience with Tyson's failing performance then this idea will work well." said Kenny to Ray.

"Yeah, I thought Kai would get Tyson back to top standard since we've failed." said Ray.

It hadn't been easy getting Kai to train with Tyson, so it better work. Tyson managed to avoid Kai's blade, but then got caught by a side slam and lost again.

"Oh man. This is not cool." said Tyson as he, once again, picked up his blade.

"Tyson, listen to me. You have forgotten you need brains as well as skill. If you want the championship title off of me, you better sharpen up." said Kai, and Tyson frowned at him.

"You only won and got credit three years ago because we decided that you were better suited to stand a chance against Marina." said Tyson annoyed.

"Yeah, that may be true, Tyson, but I have kept the title ever since because you have been getting worse with each tournament. If you get any worse, we'll reduce you to a substitute." said Kai smiling.

Tyson started to moan, but it was just what Kai expected to happen, so he turned away ignoring Tyson, which just got Tyson more frustrated.

"I think this was a good idea, Chief." said Max, clearly seeing the funny side of Kai's attempts to sort Tyson out.

Suddenly Kenny's computer beeped as an email came through.

"What is it, Chief? Anything important?" asked Ray as Kenny read through the email.

"Significantly so. Mr Dickinson says he's sending Hiro over to help get Tyson's blading better." said Kenny quickly.

"That's cool. Tyson will need his brother since Kai has failed so far." said Max.

"I don't need Hiro's help. I can get Tyson sorted." said Kai, who, even though he was annoyed at Tyson, wasn't ready to give up. It wasn't his style.

"Come on, Kai. You have to admit, Hiro knows Tyson well and has always come through for us in the past." said Kenny.

Kai just crossed his arms and went inside the house.

"_I don't want Hiro here. He deliberately got me into that situation with Brooklyn four years ago. I don't trust him._" said Kai to himself as he sat down.

Just as he seemed set to relax for once, Tyson's phone rang. In annoyance, Kai picked it up.

"What?" he said angrily and quickly.

"Not the greeting I was expecting, Kai." said the person on the receiving end and Kai gasped, he hadn't heard that voice in a while.

* * *

Over in Russia, the Blitzkrieg Bladers were also at peace, though at least all of them were still at 100% beyblading.

"Falborg, move it." said Bryan as his blade charged towards Tala's.

"Give it up, Bryan. You haven't got close to beating me since we started this battle." said Tala as his blade avoided Bryan's again.

"Bryan, you have to calm down. Tala is just making you burn up Falborg's energy." said Spencer from the sidelines.

"Leave me alone, Spencer. I know what I'm doing." said Bryan, who wasn't in the mood to accept advice.

"Come on, Tala. He's right where you want him." said Marina.

"Novae Rog." said Tala and the arctic wolf rose from the blade and defeated Bryan.

"Oh, Bryan won't listen to anyone." said Spencer, kicking the floor lightly.

"You had no defence power left after all that, Bryan. You didn't think ahead." said Tala.

Bryan just smiled and shook hands with Tala.

"Another victory for Captain Tala." said Marina and she ran over to Tala and hugged him.

Ian, who was used to this by now, just left the room with Bryan and Spencer.

"Thanks, Marina, but don't tell the others this: I thought Bryan might actually win." said Tala.

"Really? You're messing, aren't you?" she asked.

"No." he paused as a guard in the base called him. "Hold on a second, Marina." he added releasing her hand and leaving the room.

"_It's been so wonderful these past three years._" she said to herself as she waited for him.

While Tala was gone, she got a message from someone via another guard.

"Okay, thank you." she said to the guard and he left.

When Tala returned, he had a distracted look on his face.

"What's wrong?" Marina asked.

"Nothing, it was a message from Kai." said Tala.

"What did he want?" she asked.

"He says he and his team are coming over to Russia in a couple of days and they have a surprise for us." Tala said shrugging.

"Well, that is convenient." she said and Tala looked at her confused. "Because we will have a surprise for them too." she added.

* * *

A couple of days later, the Bladebreakers arrived in Russia and a guard Tala had sent took them to the base via helicopter.

When they were at the entrance to the base, the Blitzkrieg team faced them.

"Nice to see you again, I guess." said Tala to Kai.

"You never change, do you?" asked Kai rhetorically.

"Nor do you, old friend." answered Tala.

Marina was standing with Bryan, Spencer and Ian.

"So, anyway, where is this surprise?" asked Tala, wanting the answer to the question he had been asking himself for the last couple of days.

"_She _is right here." said Kai and he stood aside. Behind the other guys was Tari of all people.

"Tari?" asked Tala in surprise.

"Long time no see." said Tari.

"Who's that?" whispered Marina to Bryan.

"That's Tari Hiwatari. Kai's younger sister." answered Bryan.

"You're kidding. I do see slight resemblances though." said Marina as she looked over at Tari again.

"That's Marina I assume." said Tari. "Kai told me about her." she added.

"Yes, I am. You're Tari. I only know a little about you." said Marina walking over to Tari.

"Well, I am Kai's sister and that's all you need to know." said Tari, and Marina frowned, she didn't like that comment.

"Well…" said Tala, interrupting the girls. "We have a surprise for you."

Kai looked up and from the entrance of the base came out Brooklyn.

"What is he doing here?" asked Tari, clearly not happy at seeing Brooklyn.

"He's my cousin. Can't he pay me a visit?" asked Marina.

"Marina, you know things aren't easy with Brooklyn." said Kai.

"They never will be if you never see each other." said Marina wisely.

"I can see why it's hard for you, Kai, but I've put the past behind me now." said Brooklyn uneasily.

"Easy for you to say." said Tari, interrupting. "You weren't the one who was injured and nearly killed."

Brooklyn backed away under Tari's gaze, making Tala and Marina smile.

* * *

Later, in the base, most of the members of the teams were getting on okay; the main difficulties were Kai, Tari, Brooklyn and Marina. Marina didn't like Tari much while both Tari and Kai had problems with Brooklyn.

"I can't believe him, Tala. Bringing his sister round, she is so like him it's unbelievable." said Marina while sitting with Tala.

"Not really. You have to get to know her first. Remember that myself, Bryan, Spencer and Ian know her and she can be trusted." said Tala.

She smiled and Tala put his arms around her. Tari looked over, but didn't show any signs of what she was feeling. Because she was looking at Marina and Tala a few times, she didn't notice Brooklyn looking over at _her_ a few times. Someone did, however.

* * *

**Notes**

* * *

**A few of the ideas in this FanFiction I've had help with from my best friend, Smiffyizdabest, so I owe her thanks throughout the chapters.**


	2. Bad News and Warnings

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade in any way. The only character I own is Marina as she's my OC. I have permission to use Tari from my friend, Smiffyizdabest. Any other references I make are purely coincidental.

**Note: Cyberdised meaning the experiment where Tala was given some machine parts.**

Chapter 2: Bad News and Warnings

Two days in the Russian base didn't mean everyone got on well, though Brooklyn was spending time with Marina because they hadn't seen each other in a while. What other way to spend time together than to beybattle?

"You've improved a lot." said Brooklyn as Marina's blade avoided Zeus again.

"You can thank Tala for that. He's been training me to be in more control while unleashing enormous power." said Marina.

"Shame he didn't improve your defence as much, or else this wouldn't happen. Attack, Zeus." and the demon bit beast rose from the blade and charged at Marina's blade.

"I have improved my defence. Zeroth, Electric Sphere!" she shouted and the golden unicorn rose from the blade with an electric shield around itself.

"That's pretty good, Marina, I take back my earlier comment." said Brooklyn impressed.

Marina's smile disappeared when she realised Brooklyn had planned ahead.

"Zeus, King of Darkness!" and his bit beast created the black vortex which had defeated so many bladers in the past.

"Zeroth, we can handle his darkness attack, can't we?" she asked confidently.

Her blade charged towards the black vortex unexpectedly.

"_What is she doing?_" asked Brooklyn, not thinking that Marina actually had a plan.

"Now, Zeroth, Lightning Flash Beam!" she shouted and her blade glowed as the unicorn fired the shot at the centre of the vortex.

"Since when did you have the brains and skills to get past my King of Darkness?" asked Brooklyn as the vortex faded away.

"Recently, but this battle is not over yet." she said smiling.

"Zeus, you know what to do." said Brooklyn, and Zeus opened his wings wide and shot purple energy blasts at Zeroth.

"Electric Sphere!" she said, but the shots were too powerful and Zeroth was defeated.

"Nice try, you have improved a lot, cousin." said Brooklyn and he shook her hand.

"At least neither of us have changed. We'll still do anything to win." Marina smiled.

They walked back over to the others when a guard came over to Marina.

"You have a message from Mr. Dickinson. He wants to see you, Tala, Kai and Tari in his office as quickly as possible." said the guard hurriedly.

"Okay, I better find Tala. I'll catch you later, Brooklyn." and she took off.

* * *

Once Tala, Kai and Tari had been found, the three of them and Marina entered the Russian BBA.

"Do you know why he has called us here?" asked Kai, slightly annoyed at being called away during training again.

"No, Kai, I don't, but I have a feeling it's not good." said Marina.

Marina knocked on the door to Mr. Dickinson's office after being given permission by a receptionist to go up there.

"Come in." said the voice of the old man.

"You wanted to see us, sir?" asked Marina.

"Ah, yes. I have some bad news for you. You better take a seat." he said turning around from the window.

Marina and Tari sat, in separate chairs, while Tala and Kai preferred to stand.

"I have had reports from BBA members that Boris Balkov has been spotted in some villages here in Russia." said Mr. Dickinson, getting straight to the point.

"What? He has been put in prison and you let him escape?" asked Kai angrily clenching his fists.

"Of course we didn't let him escape, Kai. We are just as worried about it as you must be." said the old man.

Tala and Tari had anger on their faces too, but Marina only just registered what it must mean: Boris Balkov was one of the main two who got these three, as well as the other Blitzkrieg members in the abbey to be used as soldiers and experimented on.

"Don't worry, Marina. I will explain more to you when the other three know my ideas." he said to the blonde girl. "Now, Tala, I have increased the security in and around your base, so you'll all be safe, but don't, I repeat: DON'T leave the base, especially after nightfall."

"I understand." said Tala.

"That goes for all of you. Please don't risk anything by leaving the base while you're alone."

Tari and Kai nodded, but Marina still looked confused. She only knew a little bit about Boris compared to the others.

"You three may go, but be careful on your way back. I'll send a guard with you if you wish." said the old man.

"No, we'll be okay." said Kai. He looked down at Tari who was looking a little nervous.

"Are you okay, Tari?" asked Mr. Dickinson.

"What? Sorry, yes, I'm fine." said Tari, looking up. She stood up and walked alongside Kai out of the office.

"Tala, I need to talk to Marina alone. You may wait downstairs."

"Okay. See you soon, Marina." he said and left the office.

"Marina, how much do you know about Boris?" asked Mr. Dickinson.

"Only what Tala told me, that he worked alongside Voltaire and turned Tala into the cyberdised being he is." said Marina.

"Do you know about Black Dranzer?"

"Wasn't that the evil phoenix that was created for Kai? Yes, I've heard about it." answered Marina.

"Tari has had similar experiences with a Black Spiked Tiger, but I don't want you to tell her that you know, at least, not until she knows you better and starts to trust you. Don't take it the wrong way, Marina, but Tari has trouble trusting people for a while."

"I understand, but what has this got to do with me, sir?" asked Marina.

"I don't want to worry you, Marina, but I fear that Boris may want to include you in his plans since you're the only one who doesn't know his ways."

"I won't be meeting him and even if I do, I will not trust him."

Mr. Dickinson sat with his eyes half closed, thinking.

"Boris is strangely persuasive. He was usually the one to convince children into the abbey, and if he couldn't, the child usually ended up homeless."

"I know that. I won't let you down, sir." said Marina.

"Thank you, Marina. You may go. Be careful." and Marina left the office and she was so deep in thought, she didn't notice Tala waiting at first.

"Are you okay?" he asked coming over to her.

"Yes, Tala. He was just telling me more about Boris and to never trust him, no matter what he says."

"Good advice, let's get back to the base." said Tala and he held Marina's hand.

* * *

When they got back to the base, they found Kai practicing by himself. Supposedly, Tari had refused to train.

"That's not like her." said Tala and he went inside to talk to her.

Marina stayed outside and watched Kai train, which annoyed him eventually.

"_Why would Boris want me? I'm powerful, but I'm still not useful._" she said to herself and then Bryan came over and sat next to her.

"I heard from Kai. You shouldn't be worried, Marina. You know our base has the highest security."

"I know, Bryan, but I don't really know what to expect from Boris anyway." she said.

"I just hope Tala can make Tari feel better. I can tell she is worried, maybe more than you. Besides, Tala was the one who used to make Tari feel better, when Kai wasn't around, anyway." said Bryan standing up.

"What? Why?" she asked.

"We all kept an eye on each other, but Tari and Tala were close back then. I know what you're thinking, but that connection is long gone. At least for Tala, I know it is, but he'll still help her if he can." said Bryan as he realised he needed to make excuses for what he had said.

Marina nodded, but she wasn't feeling very happy now.

* * *

Later, when all the team-members were together, Brooklyn came over to Marina.

"The news about Boris worrying you?" he asked, even though he knew the answer.

"Not just that." she said.

Tala had been very edgy around her since that talk with Mr. Dickinson and Marina was feeling jealous because of Tari's presence.

"What do you think of Tari and Tala's history? Is there still a spark between them?" she asked her orange haired cousin.

"Marina, come on, be realistic. I can tell Tala loves you. I don't like Tala that much, but I can tell he makes you happy and that's all I need to reassure myself. He wouldn't give you up for his ex." said Brooklyn.

Marina watched Tari leave the room and went after her. Brooklyn tried to follow, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to get involved.

"Tari, where are you off to?" asked Marina, and Tari turned to face her.

"What do you mean?" Tari asked.

"On your way to betray them again?" asked Marina harshly.

"Marina, I have never willingly betrayed anybody, it was all because of Boris and my grandfather, but if you're threatened by me, at least tell me why." said Tari.

Marina gave in to her anger and shouted at Tari: "You are feeling low because you've lost Tala to me."

"Marina, I used to love him, I'll admit, but you're with him now and I'll stand aside." said Tari.

Brooklyn came out first, with Tala and Kai behind him, the looks on the three boys faces were looks to remember.

"This can't be good." muttered Kai.

"No, it's not." said Brooklyn. "Marina is worried that you still have a connection with Tari." he added to Tala.

"Oh no. I was too friendly with Tari and Marina got the wrong idea." said Tala.

"No, Tala, you weren't. Marina should know better." said Kai.

Out of nowhere, Marina glowed gold, while Tari glowed purple. A major cat fight was coming.

"This is definitely not good." said Tala.

"Are they arguing over you?" Tyson asked as he and the other Bladebreakers came outside.

Tala and Kai tried to stop things going too far.

"You two stay back." said Marina and Tari together.

Kai and Tala stopped. Tala actually backed away.

"Welcome to your nightmare." said Ian smiling.

Tala looked at Ian, confused and annoyed.

"Two girls arguing over you." continued Ian and he burst out laughing at Tala's misfortune.

Just as the girls calmed down, Tyson said: "I wish I was in Tala's shoes."

The two girls just walked away from each other, with Kai and Tala looking dumbfounded for once.

"What just happened, Kai?" asked Tala.

"I really don't want to know." answered Kai.

A sudden camera flash brought them to their senses.

"I knew I would need this." said Tyson.

"You're dead!" said Kai and he launched his blade towards Tyson's camera and Tyson ducked.

"Well, Tyson hasn't changed." said Tala smiling.

Everyone laughed as Tyson attempted to outrun Kai's blade.


	3. Love Hurts

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade in any way. The only character I own is Marina as she's my OC. I have permission to use Tari from my friend, Smiffyizdabest. Any other references I make are purely coincidental.

Chapter 3: Love Hurts

The following morning, Marina went down to breakfast early, before any of her team-mates.

"_I don't know if I should say anything…_" she started to herself as she entered the kitchen and stopped when she saw Kai.

"Something wrong?" asked Kai as Marina just stood at the doorway.

"Huh? No, just got a lot on my mind at the moment." answered Marina taking a seat at the table.

"Has somebody died? You're both looking so tense this morning." said Brooklyn walking in, as calm and relaxed as usual.

"Brooklyn, unless you were completely out of it yesterday, you would know that there is a lot to think about." said Kai.

"Oh, you mean Boris being seen? Is that worrying you, Marina?"

"Actually, no, Brooklyn. I…have more than that on my mind." she answered, looking down.

She and Kai looked up as Tari entered. Brooklyn edged away to the nearest wall.

"What is wrong with him?" Tari asked, indicating Brooklyn.

"No clue." answered Kai and Marina together. Tari almost frowned slightly.

"You guys are all so weird. Four of you in there and no smell of breakfast." said Tyson from the other room.

Kai just sighed; leave it to Tyson to mention food when there is something more important to think about.

* * *

Later on, Mr. Dickinson informed them that Hiro would be arriving the next day because of travelling from Japan to Russia, so the two teams decided on another snowball fight.

"Bryan, he's in your sights!" yelled Ian as Bryan aimed at Ray.

"Ian, will you stop giving everything away?" asked Bryan angrily, turning to face Ian.

"Um…Bryan. Behind!" shouted Ian diving away and a massive snowball formed by Ray and Tyson landed on Bryan.

Tala, Marina and Brooklyn were sitting on the sidelines as supporters for Bryan, Spencer and Ian. Brooklyn was looking at Tari a few times. Tala was laughing at Bryan, but Marina was distracted.

"Bryan, we were all taught better than that." said Tala.

Tala ended up getting hit by a snowball. A big one.

"Now try and be smart." said Bryan turning back to the snowball fight.

Marina smiled as Tala brushed all the snow away. He had been reduced to a Russian Snowman.

"I didn't deserve anything less than that." said Tala, smiling as well.

Kai, Tari and Kenny were on the sidelines for Tyson, Ray and Max. Kenny was excited. Kai wasn't interested as usual, while Tari was clearly distracted.

"_I hate Boris. Why can't he just stay away?_" Tari asked herself.

Suddenly, a snowball hit Tari making her stumble backwards.

"Oh, darn. I'm sorry, Tari." said Ian. "I mis-aimed."

A snowball hit Ian making him fall on his back.

"Was that you, Ian? So sorry, I didn't see your shrimpy form there." said Kai sarcastically and Tari laughed.

* * *

Not long after the snowball fight finished, Tari was walking down one of the corridors thinking when Brooklyn came out a room and walked into her.

"Sorry, Tari." he said, trying to hide a blush, which fortunately Tari didn't notice.

"Get out of my way." she said harshly and walked past Brooklyn. He didn't seem too bothered though.

He went down to one of the rooms and saw Kai, Marina and Tala. Rather, Tala and Marina were together while Kai stayed out the way.

"Are you okay?" asked Marina seeing Brooklyn.

"Yeah, of course." said Brooklyn.

Marina had a long kiss with Tala, and Brooklyn could tell Kai didn't want to be in the same room as them.

He indicated to Kai and Kai left the room with him.

"I'm guessing you didn't want to stay with my cousin and her boyfriend." said Brooklyn, almost smiling.

"No, I didn't."

They walked through the corridors, not talking much. They got so many floors up when they encountered Tari. She still looked distracted.

"Are you all right?" Brooklyn asked politely.

"Brooklyn, leave me alone. I don't trust you or like you and I'm not going to pretend otherwise." said Tari and she walked away from them.

Brooklyn watched her go and Kai noticed.

"You better not have a thing for my sister." he said, giving Brooklyn a dark glare.

"Well, I…um." said Brooklyn, a little embarrassed and trying to find an excuse.

"You do." said Kai, knowing for sure now.

Brooklyn looked a little nervous.

"Do you know what Tari's been through? She doesn't need you making things worse." said Kai.

"I don't intend to make things worse." said Brooklyn backing away a little.

"Your presence makes things worse and the only reason I haven't said anything before now was for Marina's sake."

"Sorry, Kai. I'll leave Tari alone." promised Brooklyn.

"You better leave her alone. Don't go near her or you'll wish you had never been born." Kai said and walked away; leaving Brooklyn with a small look of relief on his face that nothing else had happened.

* * *

Where Tala and Marina were, they were sitting together, Tala's arm around Marina and Marina had her head on his shoulder.

"I don't know why I did it, Marina." said Tala, out of nowhere.

"Did what? Something bothering you?" asked Marina.

"Lost control and attacked you three years ago." said Tala.

"Tala, it's in the past and I forgave you. Don't let it bother you." said Marina.

"I've had history with Tari though. I never attacked her like that. I did after my experiment, but never because of my emotions." said Tala.

"What do you mean? You didn't lose control with Tari, but you did with me." asked Marina, a twitch of annoyance in her voice.

"I didn't mean that." said Tala.

"What was it, Tala? Was she easier to be with? Am I a problem? Someone you couldn't handle as easy as you liked?" said Marina, starting to lose control in her anger.

"You're being stupid, Marina. The reason is because you're my true love. Tari was a phase in the past." said Tala, trying to explain and partly lying.

"A phase? Was that it?" asked Tari, hearing the argument from the doorway.

"I'll explain it. Give me a minute." said Tala, who was having trouble here.

"I'm your true love. Really?" asked Marina.

"Yes, though me and Tari were close." admitted Tala.

"Well, if that's the case…" started Marina, and Kai entered behind Tari.

"Tari?"

"Don't ask what started this." answered Tari, so she and Kai just watched the argument unfold.

"What's the case? What are you thinking?" asked Tala.

"You can stick your true love!" and she slapped Tala around the face and ran out the room, between Tari and Kai, crying.

"We have to stop her. She can't leave the base." said Tala, rubbing his cheek.

Kai smiled at first, but left, leaving Tari with Tala.

"What was he smiling about?" asked Tala.

"Well, Tala. Seeing you getting slapped by a girl isn't an everyday thing." she said and he smiled slightly. It was something new.


	4. The Worst Person To Meet

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade in any way. The only character I own is Marina as she's my OC. I have permission to use Tari from my friend, Smiffyizdabest. Any other references I make are purely coincidental.

Chapter 4: The Worst Person To Meet

A few hours after Tala and Marina's argument and Marina was still no where to be found.

"I don't want Mr. Dickinson involved yet, Kai. We don't even know where Marina is. She could still be in the base." said Tala.

"Tala, we have been searching for nearly four hours and we all know the size of your base, she's left and it's not safe with Boris being out there." said Brooklyn.

"I have known Marina for long enough, Brooklyn. I'm sure she is around here somewhere." said Tala.

"Whether she is here or not, I still agree with Kai. Mr. Dickinson needs to know…" started Brooklyn, but Tari interrupted.

"I can understand that you really worry about her, Brooklyn, but Marina nearly killed Kai, so I don't feel ready to trust her yet."

"She did that for me, Tari. She felt like she needed to get revenge for me because Kai beat me. It was loyalty." said Brooklyn, defending Marina.

"How can you two argue about the past?" asked Tala, as Tari was about to retort to Brooklyn.

* * *

In the other room, Bryan had the job of keeping the others busy, since only Tari, Kai, Tala and Brooklyn were in the 'discussion'.

"Why can't we know what's going on?" asked Tyson.

"You're too slow to understand how delicate a situation this is, especially for Tala and Brooklyn." said Spencer.

"Blunt and to the point. Why are all Russians like that?" asked Tyson rhetorically.

* * *

About half an hour later, the discussion was over and they came out the room.

"Well, is anyone going to tell us what you've come up with?" asked Tyson.

"We will be letting Mr. Dickinson know." said Tala.

"Well, at least we know it can't do anybody any harm." said Ray, who was standing next to Max and Kenny.

"No, it can't, but I do think we should go out to find Marina. We're not in as much danger as you guys." said Tyson, referring to the Blitzkrieg team, Kai, Tari and Brooklyn.

"Tyson, every one of us in this room has been intended to be part of Boris' plans in the past and some of us, he has used. I'm not risking it." said Kai.

"Wow, I never realised you cared." said Tyson.

"I just don't want Boris to use anyone against us. To him, you're quite powerful, Tyson. Or rather, Dragoon is." replied Kai.

"Whatever. You think you're so cool." said Tyson, and for once, he gave up and walked away.

* * *

Quite far from the base, in one of the Siberian towns, Marina was sitting outside a store, clearly feeling the cold.

"_Get jealous. Argue with Tala. Slap Tala. Leave the base. What is wrong with me?_" she asked herself and her breath came out as mist.

She looked around and many people walked by, probably wondering why she just sat there in this weather, or why she hadn't thought of wearing warmer clothes.

"_I wonder how many people here actually recognise me?_" she asked herself curiously.

She looked around and paid more attention. There was a man, a middle-aged looking man, in a long green-ish, brown-ish coat. He had a hood over his head.

"_I don't like the looks of him. He better stay away from me._" she said and she turned away.

After about ten more minutes of sitting still and thinking, the street seemed to clear and the strange man in the jacket walked up behind Marina.

"You look frozen stiff, young lady." said the man in a very cool, charming voice.

"So? I don't need anyone's help." she answered in a hard voice, though shaky in the cold.

"Don't mind me, but…" started the man and he put a blanket round her shoulders.

"Who are you and why would you help a stranger?" asked Marina.

"Who I am doesn't matter and you're not really a stranger. You're part of Russia's best beyblade team. You're Marina Kingston." said the man.

"What? You're just some crazed fan, give me a break." said Marina, and she turned her head away, smirking.

"Come with me. I might have something that could interest you." said the man and he pulled back her chair.

"Okay, but I only feel right to warn you. You better not be messing with me, or you're going to be in a messy situation." she said.

The man just smiled then led Marina to a warehouse not far from the town.

* * *

Back at the base, Tala was training with Kai.

"I know there is a lot on your mind, but you have to do better than that." said Kai as Tala's blade nearly went out the dish.

"I'm still in and I will be a challenge." said Tala and he made his blade push against Kai's at even power.

"I'm impressed, nearly. Blazing Gig Tempest." said Kai, and Dranzer was released and defeated Tala.

Tala's blade hit the wall next to the door as a guard came in.

"Excuse me, Tala, but the second in command of the BBA is here. Mr. Dickinson asked him to come early."

The guard left and Hiro walked in.

"Hiro, long time no see, big brother." said Tyson from the corner of the room.

"Tyson, I'm here on business. You haven't seen Marina for hours, right?" he asked.

"No, we haven't, but how can Mr. Dickinson actually expect you to help?" asked Kai, who didn't trust Hiro as much as Tyson and the other Bladebreakers.

"He thought I would be able to help if the worse comes."

"Well, it won't. Don't think I trust you either." said Brooklyn.

Tari looked over at Brooklyn, but only for a brief moment. It was clear she agreed with him about not trusting Hiro.

"I appreciate this isn't a comfortable situation, but we must work together." said Hiro and the others all nodded.

* * *

In the warehouse near the Siberian town, the man and Marina were half in a conversation.

"You wanted to show me something. Are you going to or not?" asked Marina impatiently.

"Yes I will, but give me a moment." said the man walking into the next room.

He approached a control panel and pulled the levers, locking all the doors out of the warehouse. He then returned to where Marina was sitting.

"Okay, Marina, you need to know who I am before you understand anything about what I have to show you."

"Okay." said Marina cautiously.

"Well, let's just say I know your team-mates quite well, plus Kai, Tari and Brooklyn." he said.

"You can't be…" she started as she began to realise who he was.

He took off his hood to reveal his spiky purple hair then he put on the red goggles he used to wear so much.

"Yes, young Marina, I'm Boris Balkov." he said and laughed at the scared look on her face.

"You used to work with Kai and Tari's grandfather, Voltaire. You were so cruel to them." she said backing away.

"Cruel? Did they not explain anything to you? I gave Kai and Tari the chance to be the two best beybladers in the world. With the powers of Black Dranzer and Black Spiked Tiger, not even your cousin would be able to beat them." said Boris, still smiling.

"You used them all. You will not use me." she said defiantly.

"Oh, I think different, because I have something that is destined just for you."

"Forget it! Get away from me!" she shouted and ran away, but everywhere she went was blocked except one corridor.

"_You will never escape, Marina, and when you find It, you…will…be…mine._" he said to himself smirking.

Marina ran down the corridor, hoping it might lead her to an exit, but it led her to a room where there was a beyblade chained up.

"What is this?" she asked out loud.

"Ah, you found it. I hoped you would, that is Black Zeroth, I made it not long after your loss to Kai three years ago. It will make you unbeatable. No one will be a challenge to you anymore." Boris said walking into the room.

The blade was black and red, and the bit piece was a picture of a black unicorn.

"I won't use this. I know what this sort of bit beast does to the person who uses it." said Marina.

"You don't know everything though, do you? You have heard of Black Dranzer and Black Spiked Tiger, but you don't really know what they were capable of."

"I know they had an evil influence on who used them. Kai and Tari did horrible things, all because of you."

"Marina, think of the power and you'll forget of anything else." he said.

Marina looked back at the blade and realised she was tempted by the sound of power.

"Okay, I'll use it, but I won't be following your orders, understand that." she said.

"That's fine. Here you go." he said and released the blade from the chains binding it.

"_Power means a lot to me. I'll control it and become the best._" she said and as she attached the blade to her launcher, it glowed and Boris smiled. His plan was working, so far.

* * *

**Notes**

**

* * *

**

**Marina doesn't know exactly what happened with Black Dranzer and Black Spiked Tiger, she's just heard about them from Tala.**


	5. Guilt

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade in any way. The only character I own is Marina as she's my OC. I have permission to use Tari from my friend, Smiffyizdabest. Any other references I make are purely coincidental.

Chapter 5: Guilt

A day later and no one had seen Marina. Both Tala and Brooklyn were worrying a lot more now.

"I know we all need some time alone sometimes, but to leave the base was not a good idea." said Tala to Brooklyn.

"No, it wasn't and I still don't know exactly why Marina left either." said Brooklyn.

"I said the wrong thing and we argued. She slapped me and left." said Tala regrettably.

"She slapped you. What exactly did you say to get her that upset?" asked Brooklyn in surprise.

"We got onto the subject of my past history with Tari."

"Okay." said Brooklyn, deciding to back off the subject for now.

* * *

In one of the highest rooms of the base, Tari was sitting completely still and on the verge of crying. Not far away, out of sight, Kai was keeping an eye on her.

"_Is this all my fault? Was I the reason they argued and am I the reason Marina has been missing since yesterday?_" she asked herself.

She walked up the stairs and climbed a ladder to the roof of the base and, unnoticed by her, Kai followed.

"It was my fault. I drove them apart." she said out loud.

"You didn't, Tari." said Kai walking over to her.

"Kai? Why are you following me?" she asked as he sat next to her.

"I knew you would blame yourself. There is no need, because if something as simple as this could drive them apart, then they were bound to have an argument sometime." said Kai wisely.

"Marina has left the base, Kai. She hasn't been seen in a day. What if Boris finds her and harms her? I'll never forgive myself." she said.

"Tari, listen to me, there is no point in beating yourself up. Marina can look after herself and she is a smart girl." said Kai.

"Kai, they argued over mine and Tala's history. If I hadn't given reason for Marina to feel threatened by my presence, then they wouldn't have argued. They were happy before I showed up."

"Tari, I have a feeling their relationship was suffering already, even if they didn't know it. Any little thing could have pushed them into an argument."

"Kai, I'm scared. If anything happens to Marina…" started Tari then Kai put his arms round her and she cried into his chest.

"Everything will be okay, Tari. We'll do everything we can to find Marina." said Kai as he put his fingers through his sister's hair.

* * *

Over at the warehouse, however, Marina was training with Black Zeroth. High above the training dish, Boris was watching every move she made.

"_When she masters that beyblade, every beyblader will be in my reach._" he said to himself.

In the dish, Black Zeroth was a blur, circling the dish faster than any blade imaginable. Marina caught the blade after its tenth circle of the dish.

"_This blade is more powerful than any I could imagine and I am in control of it._" she said to herself as she put the blade back in her launcher.

The robotic shooters twitched as Marina prepared to release her new blade.

"Go to Stage 2." she said releasing Black Zeroth and the shooters released twenty training blades.

In Marina's pocket, no longer on her mind or being used, was Zeroth. Every time Black Zeroth was mentioned or released, the original Zeroth felt the bond he had with Marina slipping away.

"Now, Black Zeroth, attack." she commanded and the black blade pierced through the trainee blades like they were paper.

"Well done, young Marina. Now you must master Black Zeroth's inner powers." said Boris from above.

"What did we agree, Boris? I will never take orders from you. This blade and what I do with it will be my choice. Black Zeroth, Lightning Flash." she said.

Black Zeroth's Lightning Flash was the same as Zeroth's except it was way more powerful and the colours of the electricity were black and red. It destroyed the robotic shooters and most of the arena.

"_She's improving fast._" Boris said with an evil grin.

"_Soon, I will be the most powerful beyblader in the world. When I get Brooklyn back on my side, we'll be the strongest team in the whole world._" she said, watching her blade glow.

* * *

Back in the base, Hiro was trying to make a plan on how to find Marina without risking anyone else. Tari had calmed down a bit, but it was obvious she still felt bad about Tala and Marina's argument.

"I need to have a word with you, Tala." said Kai.

"Oh, now, Kai?" asked Tala, who was expecting some sort of lecture.

"Now. Get over here." answered Kai and he walked away. Tala followed, complaining under his breath.

They reached a room off to the side of the main corridor.

"Okay, Kai, what is this about?" asked Tala standing against the wall.

"Tari." he answered.

"What's wrong with her? Is she all right?" asked Tala.

"Hn…now you're interested in listening to me." said Kai.

"I thought you were going to lecture me, but forget that. Is Tari okay?" asked Tala.

"Yes and no. Physically, she's fine, but mentally, she's worried that she was the cause of your argument with Marina." explained Kai.

"She feels guilty, doesn't she? What did you say to her?" asked Tala.

"All I could say. I don't know if you have noticed it, Tala, but you and Marina aren't as close as you want to believe, or your history with Tari wouldn't be enough to cause an argument like that." said Kai.

"Well, I see what you mean." said Tala, a little lost for words.

"I tried to tell Tari that she wasn't the cause of the argument, but I don't think I fully convinced her."

"Are you asking me to try talking to her?" asked Tala.

"Even with everything that has happened, you are probably closest to Tari next to me." said Kai.

"Well, I can try, Kai. I will do my best to make Tari feel better about it." said Tala.

"Just don't make things worse. Don't make me regret asking for your help." said Kai leaving the room and Tala stood there, wondering what he should say to Tari.


	6. An Old Bond?

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade in any way. The only character I own is Marina as she's my OC. I have permission to use Tari from my friend, Smiffyizdabest. Any other references I make are purely coincidental.

**Notes: When Marina talks to Black Zeroth, her words are in italics, Black Zeroth's are bold and italic.**

Chapter 6: An Old Bond?

In the warehouse where Marina was training with Black Zeroth, she was starting to train more often under Boris' watchful eye.

"_The more she uses that blade, the more likely she is to follow orders._" said Boris to himself.

"Go, Black Zeroth, Lightning Flash!" Marina shouted while releasing the blade.

The blade circled the dish glowing black and red as the electricity beam cut through the dish leaving a scorch mark behind it as it continued circling inwards to the centre.

"Impressive, young Marina, you and Black Zeroth are getting stronger by the day." said Boris.

"I'm in control of this blade. It will not control me." she said holding the blade tightly in her hand.

In her pocket, in her old blade, the bit piece of Zeroth glowed to show his sadness because he felt like Marina was abandoning him.

* * *

Back in the Russian team's base, Tari was still feeling uncomfortable, so Kai was keeping an eye on her.

Over in the corner of the room, Hiro was trying to work out a plan to find Marina without endangering any of the others.

"Any luck?" Tyson asked his older brother.

"I'm afraid not, Tyson. I still think that whatever we do, we will have to split up into groups, two in a group, maybe three." answered Hiro.

"Okay." said Tyson and he walked off to talk to Max and Ray.

"What do you think is the most likely that's happened to Marina?" Ray asked Tyson.

"That Boris found her, but I don't want to resign myself to that yet." answered Tyson.

"I really hate it when the worst case scenario is the most likely." said Max.

"Do you think Hiro's right? That we should split up into groups?" asked Tyson.

"It's the most sensible idea, but still risky, especially considering that it's likely Tala's team, plus Kai and Tari, are part of Boris' plans." answered Ray wisely.

"Yeah." said Tyson agreeing with Ray.

Brooklyn had been staying out the way of Tari since he got that warning from Kai, but it didn't stop him being worried about her.

"_I hope she's okay._" he said to himself and looked away from her before Kai noticed.

When Tari left the room, Tala went after her.

"Tari?"

"Yes, Tala."

"Kai told me you are blaming yourself for my argument with Marina. It's not your fault, you know." he said.

"Yeah, Kai said you and Marina weren't as close as you thought and that anything could have pushed you into an argument, but the fact remains that _I _was the thing that pushed you into it." she answered.

"Tari, it wasn't that at all. I was possibly being too nice to you and I gave Marina the wrong idea. I got myself into that argument with her."

"Maybe." she said, looking away.

"Tari, please don't blame yourself. I worry about you, and I always have." said Tala raising a hand to her face.

"No, Tala. This is why I'm a problem. You are letting your old feelings for me blind you to what you have." she said pushing his hand away.

"I'm sorry, Tari, but I can't just get rid of my old feelings." said Tala.

"You have to, Tala. You will drive yourself crazy if you find you have feelings for two people." said Tari and she ran away.

Tala stood there, the realisation finally sinking in.

* * *

Later, when Tala finally returned to the main room, Kai was waiting for him.

"What have you been saying to her, Tala?" Kai asked with annoyance in his voice.

"I made a mistake, Kai. All I can do is apologise." said Tala sitting down.

"You made a mistake? From what I heard, you took advantage." said Kai walking over to Tala.

"I did not!" said Tala defensively.

"So, what happened from your side of the story?" asked Kai.

"I started by telling her what you told me, that she had been blaming herself for my argument with Marina, then she said that she knew anything could drive us into an argument, but she's upset that, either way, she was the one who drove us into it." said Tala, pausing for breath.

"Well, what did you do then, because in Tari's view of it, you did something." said Kai.

"Tari pointed out to me what I hadn't noticed: that I'm blinded by the relationship we used to have and didn't realise the good thing I had right in front of me all this time." said Tala.

"I see. You better find Tari and apologise. Now!" said Kai in a demanding tone.

Tala walked away to look for Tari.

* * *

Back in the warehouse, Marina was talking to Black Zeroth.

"_What is the maximum of your power? Could you really be stronger than Zeroth?_" she asked the black unicorn.

"_**Marina Kingston, listen to me. I am way stronger than Zeroth, he is nothing to me. I can even defeat Zeus if you need me to.**_" said the bit beast.

"_Your power is amazing, I do not doubt that, but are you like Black Dranzer or Black Spiked Tiger?" she asked._

"_**You mean: will I use an evil influence over you? I won't. You are in control of all we do.**_" he said to her. "_**At least until Boris gets control of the world, then you will be under my control.**_" the evil bit beast added to himself.

* * *

Back at the base, Tala found Tari.

"Tari, I want to apologise." he said.

"Yes, and I accept your apology. I can tell you have realised your mistake at last. Spiked Tiger could tell when Wolborg changed after you…changed." said Tari, and she turned smiling towards Tala.

"Thank you, Tari. You showed me what I have and I must never betray her again." said Tala.

Tari gave Tala a friendly hug.

"I just hope Marina is okay." said Tari.

"Me too." said Tala.


	7. Prediction or Nightmare?

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade in any way. The only character I own is Marina as she's my OC. I have permission to use Tari from my friend, Smiffyizdabest. Any other references I make are purely coincidental.

Chapter 7: Prediction or Nightmare?

It was yet another night going past for the teams without Marina, and now Tari's worrying was starting to affect her.

She was shaking in her sleep as thoughts ran through her mind, each worse than the one before.

_There was a building and inside the building were a girl and a…creature. It looked like a horse, but…maybe not. The creature seemed under the girl's control…until…_

_The girl screamed and the creature controlled all its power into an attack which shook the walls._

_The scene switched and the girl was on the floor staring up at a man with a whip in his hands. The girl was tear stricken and the man was saying something to her. She kept crying and the man raised the whip once more. He brought it down on the girl's back and…_

Tari woke up gasping and panicking. Had it been a dream? She has had too many bad nightmares to not be certain if it was or not. She sat there on her bed, looking around the room. As her gaze arrived at the window, she saw it must still be very early morning. The sun was just barely coming out, making the Russian snow seem to shine.

"_That wasn't me in that dream…maybe it was…_" she thought to herself, but was interrupted by the door being opened, opened in quite a lot of force as well.

"Kai?"

"What happened, Tari? I knew something was wrong when Dranzer started glowing." he said as he entered the room properly.

Tari looked at her blade…indeed, Spiked Tiger had been glowing…the bit in the centre was making the whole blade seem to have a warm touch to it.

"I'm fine, Kai. Don't worry about me. We need to find Marina." answered Tari.

"Tari, I know you better than that." he said walking over to her and sitting on the bed.

Tari didn't look round at Kai…she knew her eyes were too easy to read and Kai would know for certain something was wrong.

"Tari…" he started slowly. "Did you have another nightmare?"

"It wasn't really…a nightmare." she answered.

"So, what was it?" he asked.

"Kai…" she started, but they heard a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" asked Kai in an angry tone.

The door opened. It was Hiro.

"I thought we better get some training in…not you, Tari." said Hiro.

Kai growled a little, but Hiro didn't notice.

"Tell me later, Tari." he said, and left the room past Hiro.

After Kai was out of ear/sight shot, Hiro turned to Tari.

"Are you okay, Tari?" he asked.

"What? Yeah…sorry. I'm fine." she said.

Hiro nodded and closed the door.

"_What am I saying? I'm not okay._" she said to herself and started to silently cry.

* * *

In the warehouse, Marina was still constantly training with Black Zeroth.

"_No matter what happens…I'll be the strongest blader around. With this blade…I am invincible._" she said to herself.

She released the blade again and it went crashing through six blocks of concrete.

"_Not a scratch…as expected._" said Marina catching the blade.

* * *

The training sessions had started back in the base. They were training two groups at a time; at the moment were Max vs. Tyson and Kai vs. Ray.

"Come on Tyson…I shouldn't be getting you and Dragoon this easily." laughed Max as his blade avoided Tyson again.

"That won't last much longer." said Tyson. "Galaxy Storm."

The attack that resembled a hurricane surrounded Max's blade.

"_Tyson…Tyson…Tyson._" said Hiro to himself, knowing what would happen now.

"Draciel, Gravity Control." said Max, and his blade started spinning around Tyson's and trapped it in a sort of water tower.

"Fight it, Dragoon." but to no avail. Tyson's blade went flying out the dish.

"Tyson, you have slacked off so much more than I thought. Listen to me. When it comes to a defensive blader like Max, you have to time when to attack. You can't just go charging in." said Hiro.

Tyson just frowned, even though he knew his brother was right.

In the other match, Kai clearly wasn't focusing, but he was doing better than Tyson.

"Something is on your mind, Kai. I've never had a match with you that wasn't challenging." said Ray as his blade avoided Kai's and attacked it on the side.

Kai was thinking about Tari, but how could he talk to her with a whole day of training going on?

* * *

Tari was in the base sitting in one of the rooms. Also in the room were Bryan and Tala.

"She looks very distracted." whispered Tala to Bryan.

"Say something then. Do I have to do everything?" said Bryan and he looked over at Tari.

She was fiddling with the star necklace she has and didn't even seem to notice Tala and Bryan looking at her.

"Hey, Stripes, you okay?" asked Bryan, and Tala nudged Bryan.

Tari didn't answer, which annoyed Bryan, but he didn't say anything.

* * *

Later, when Tala and Bryan had left the room, Tari was on her own when Brooklyn entered.

"_My luck._" said Brooklyn to himself, mostly because, for starters, of all the rooms to choose, he had entered the one Tari was in. Secondly, he didn't want to imagine the lecture and/or punishment Kai would give him if he knew that his rival had been alone with his sister.

He intended to leave the room, but noticed that Tari was so distracted; she hadn't seemed to have registered him opening the door.

"Tari, are you okay?" he asked coming over to her.

"Brooklyn? What are you doing here?" she asked suddenly.

"You're distracted. What's happened?" he asked.

"I can't tell you, Brooklyn." she said.

"Any reason why not?" he asked.

"It's not your business and I wouldn't tell you even if I thought I could." she said.

Brooklyn knew when to give up and left the room, partly hoping Tari wouldn't tell Kai that he had been near her.

* * *

It wasn't much later the training finally ended and Kai found Tari. He was worried how distracted she still looked.

"Tari, I want to know what is going on." he said in a bit of a demanding tone.

"Kai, I don't need your help. Please…leave me alone." she said and stood up from the chair.

She was about to leave the room when Kai stopped her.

"That won't cut it, Tari. I want to know." he said.

"You are so stubborn." said Tari and she gave him the well known 'Hiwatari glare'.

Kai smirked for a second. It amused him how alike the two of them were, but then he returned to his usual look.

"Tari, just tell me what happened." he said.

"No." she said in a strong voice.

Kai was getting annoyed now. He wanted to know what was going on and being the protective brother he was, he was going to find out, no matter what.

"Tari, come here." he said and grabbed her wrist.

"What are you doing?" she asked, also very annoyed now.

He stood her against the wall.

"Tell me what is going on." he said, clearly not taking no for an answer.

"Okay…I had a nightmare that Boris attacked Marina like 'Grandfather' used to attack me." she said.

"I see. Well, don't worry about it because we will find Marina and nothing will happen to her." he said.

Tari started to cry again and Kai hugged her.

"I'm sorry if I hurt you…I was just worried about you." he said.

"I know." she said.

"So, how about we get a smile back on your face." said Kai, and Tari smiled.

* * *

**Notes**

* * *

**Sorry if anyone thinks I had Kai be too harsh on Tari, but I was trying to have Kai's harder and softer side being used at the same time.**


	8. A Sign

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade in any way. The only character I own is Marina as she's my OC. I have permission to use Tari from my friend, Smiffyizdabest. Any other references I make are purely coincidental.

Chapter 8: A Sign

Marina was practicing with Black Zeroth again. She was getting more and more used to the blade now, but she didn't realise how much she was changing mentally.

"Show me what you can do with that blade!" ordered Boris.

"I'll do what I want. No one orders me around, especially a mad scientist in goggles." she said.

Boris didn't like that, but since his plan was working, he let her get away with it.

* * *

Over in the base, Tala was being very edgy since Marina had been gone so long and hasn't been seen.

"_If Boris finds her or hurts her, he will pay._" he said to himself and clenched his fists.

* * *

Meanwhile, Hiro had been working on their plan, yet he wasn't getting very far and time is running out.

"_I can't risk pairing them up. It'll have to be groups of three…the more the better._" he said as he thought about which method was safer in the long run.

Tala left the room and went upstairs to his and Marina's bedroom. Sitting on the bed with his blade in his hand, he was more worried than he had been in a long time.

"_What will I do if Boris has caused her harm? It'll be my fault._" he said to himself and he looked up at a photo of himself and Marina. She looked so happy in that photo.

He put his blade into his launcher and aimed at the wall, and by concentrating Wolborg's power, shot the blade right through the wall into the next room.

A minute later, Bryan came in.

"What happened, Tala?" he asked, and after looking at the hole in the wall and registering that Tala had his launcher in his hands, he sighed.

"You have to calm down, Captain." he said walking over to Tala.

"Yeah, I guess." he said lowering his launcher.

They entered the other room to retrieve Wolborg whose defence ring was a little damaged from the crash through the wall.

"Marina will be okay. She is smart enough to stay away from Boris." said Bryan.

"Is she? Really? We've all been lured into his plans, no matter how smart we were." said Tala.

"At least try not to focus on the worst things." said Bryan and he left the room.

* * *

Later, outside the base Tari was training and not far away from her, lying in the snow, was Brooklyn.

"Go, Spiked Tiger!" she commanded, releasing her blade.

The blade travelled in a zigzag through the snow leaving a trail behind it and then she caught it.

Brooklyn wasn't really watching her. He was watching the occasional bird that flew overhead.

"Spiked Twister!" Tari said, releasing her beyblade again.

The twister rose from her blade and some of the snow rose with it, creating a small blizzard. Brooklyn turned around and not long after, the twister stopped.

"You better be careful. Moves like that can be unpredictable if used amongst certain elements." he said to her.

"Don't you tell me how to control my own blade and bit beast." she said annoyed.

"Whatever. I don't want to get involved." he said and a bird flew down onto his hand and he smiled.

"I've never seen someone so peaceful with nature as you." said Tari, in a slightly nicer voice.

"It comes from the isolation in my childhood." he said slowly.

"Right." she said.

She stood there, still looking at him with that bird and it almost made her smile.

"How can you lie around in the snow, as relaxed as that, when your cousin could be in danger?" she asked him.

"Relaxation is as important as training." he said wisely.

"Yeah, well, you relax too much." she said. It was obvious that, in this situation, she didn't approve of Brooklyn lying around.

"Do I? Then you don't relax enough." he answered, and she turned away from him and walked back to the base.

* * *

Inside the base, Tala was sitting alone when Kai came in.

"What do you want?" Tala asked harshly.

"If you'd rather sit there moping, go ahead. If Marina needs your help, don't blame us if you discover you're useless." said Kai, also a little harshly.

"I'll be able to help Marina no matter what mood I'm in. I'm just worried…Boris will hurt her." answered Tala.

"With Marina's power, he won't have to worry about you, Tala. I don't think Zeroth would like Boris hurting Marina either…and not many old geezers can handle the electricity power Zeroth has." said Kai, and Tala actually chuckled.

"You have a point there, Kai. Boris better write his will." and both of them smiled.

"Hey, you two. I have finally laid out our plan. Get the others assembled." said Hiro entering the room.

After everyone was present, Hiro started on his idea.

"We do have to look for Marina and the best way to do it is to explore in groups of three. I've already decided that Tyson, Max and Ray should be one group. Kai, Tari and Tala are another. Spencer, Ian and Bryan. Myself, Kenny and Brooklyn will be the last group." explained Hiro.

"No way!" said Kai from the corner of the room.

"What's wrong with you? It's a good plan." said Tyson.

"I'll work with Tari, but only with Tari." he said.

"Yeah, that's nice, Kai…reject a friend's help." said Tala.

"Because you're stubborn and want everything your way, how do you want the plan to be?" asked Spencer.

"Kenny should stay at the base. He's the weakest of us without a bit beast so Tala should work with Hiro and Brooklyn while me and Tari go alone." said Kai.

"That's nuts…" started Tyson, but Hiro interrupted him.

"Okay, Kai. Have it your way. It's dangerous, but you and Tari are a powerful team and you're right about Kenny being the weakest, so it's better he stays." he said.

Tyson didn't like it, but at least he wasn't in the same group as Kai.

"So, Tyson, Max and Ray. Kai and Tari. Spencer, Ian and Bryan. Myself, Tala and Brooklyn. Any objections now?" Hiro asked.

Everyone shook their heads. The plan was made.


	9. Long Time No See

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade in any way. The only character I own is Marina as she's my OC. I have permission to use Tari from my friend, Smiffyizdabest. Any other references I make are purely coincidental.

Chapter 9: Long Time No See…

Now that their plan was made, each group was deciding where they should start searching, except Tari couldn't help but wonder why Kai only wanted to work with her and why he rejected Tala in their group.

"Tari, are you okay?" asked Hiro walking over.

"Yeah, I'm all right, Hiro." she said.

"We both know Kai doesn't do these sort of things without a reason."

"That's the problem, Hiro…I don't know what Kai's reason is." she said.

"Have you both decided where you're searching first?" he asked.

"The edge of town near the woods." she answered.

"I want you and Kai to be careful, since it's just the two of you." he said.

"We can look after ourselves." she said.

Hiro nodded and walked away.

"Is she all right?" Brooklyn asked Hiro.

"And you're worrying about her because…?" asked Tala, waiting for an answer.

"Tala Valkov! We have more important things to discuss." said Hiro to Tala, and some of the others looked over, which silenced Tala immediately.

* * *

In the warehouse, Marina was comparing what she had learnt with Black Zeroth to what she already knew with Zeroth.

"_Black Zeroth is stronger, faster…everything I could want in a beyblade…yet there is something Zeroth has that Black Zeroth hasn't._" she said to herself as she looked down at the two beyblades.

She heard the door open and put Zeroth back in her pocket.

"Young Marina, it's time to take your training outside and test Black Zeroth in the elements." said Boris.

"About time…you've kept me in here for days training in your puny dish." she said standing up.

"Soon, it'll all be worth it." he said, and as she left the room past him, he smiled an evil smile.

* * *

The groups had set off to search for Marina. Kenny, who had stayed at the base, was using his laptop to track their beyblades' signals. Meanwhile, Tyson, Max and Ray were searching a town.

"Someone remind me why we're bothering to search here. She wouldn't be in a town for this long." said Tyson.

"You do have a point, Tyson, but we can't afford to miss places out." said Ray.

* * *

Bryan, Spencer and Ian weren't having much luck either. They were searching the ruins of the old Balkov Abbey.

"Why did you choose to come here?" Ian asked Bryan.

"Because it used to be Boris' base. It could have some clues…but it doesn't look like it." answered Bryan.

"No, it only serves as a dark reminder of what happened to us all." said Spencer, clearly agreeing with Ian that they shouldn't have bothered coming here.

* * *

Hiro, Tala and Brooklyn were also hitting dead ends in their search.

"This is ridiculous. I know we haven't searched very long yet…" started Brooklyn.

"It sounds like you're giving up on her, Brooklyn. From what I heard, she was the one person who stayed on your side. Your idea of repaying someone is pretty poor, if you ask me." said Tala.

"Tala! That is taking it too far. You know Brooklyn is just as loyal to Marina as you are." said Hiro.

Tala just shrugged, which Brooklyn took as a 'Russian apology'.

* * *

Kai and Tari were searching the woods, which happened to not be very far from the warehouse.

"Kai, can I ask you something?" asked Tari suddenly.

"Go ahead." he answered.

"Why did you choose to work with me alone and not include Tala?" she asked.

"I have my reasons." he said.

"Kai, for once, give me a straight answer." she said.

"Why should he?" asked a voice, making Tari jump in surprise.

"Who's there?" asked Kai as he turned around.

The owner of the voice came through the thick bushes…it was Boris.

"You." said Kai, clenching his fists.

"You haven't changed, Kai." said Boris and he looked past Kai at Tari. "Long time no see, young Tarinfia."

Tari growled and clenched her fists.

"I see the last time we met is still fresh in your mind." he said.

Kai stepped back away from Boris and stopped next to Tari.

"I see Mr. Dickinson did you a favour, Tari…or do you think I can't tell face paint from tattoos?" he said, referring to the fact that Tari had her face triangles removed and now wore face paint, like Kai.

"Boris, what have you done with Marina?" asked Kai.

"Someone goes missing and you automatically think it's me. If it wasn't for your team-mates, Kai." he said. "Or your conscience, Tari." he added to her. "Then you'd both be the strongest in the world."

"Maybe, but what's power without emotions behind it?" said Tari.

"We've both learnt what you'll never understand: it's not about power." said Kai.

He got his launcher and beyblade out. Tari did as well and they aimed them at Boris.

"Would either of you really aim your beyblades at someone, intent on killing them?" asked Boris, knowing that Tari at least, wouldn't be able to.

"I have nothing stopping me." said Kai.

"Maybe you don't, Kai…but Tari does. She's already experienced nearly killing someone. Can you ever come that close to it again?" Boris asked.

Tari held back her launcher. Boris was right.

"I knew it. Tarinfia Hiwatari, too weak to shoot her beyblade at someone. I guess she's the weaker side of your family isn't she?" he said laughing.

Tari collapsed to her knees and Kai backed off and put his beyblade and launcher away.

"Tari?" he asked in concern.

Suddenly, a beyblade came spinning through the bushes and cut a tree down. It fell towards Tari.

"Tari!" shouted Kai and he dived to save her.

After landing a fair distance away and turning back to see the fallen tree, Boris was gone.

"Thanks, Kai." said Tari, getting to her feet slowly.

"That was a beyblade which cut that tree down…but whose?" Kai asked.

"Do you possibly think it could have been Marina?" asked Tari.

"She wouldn't do that. She's not like Boris." he said.

They both stood there thinking.

"What if Boris did something to her?" Tari asked in panic.

"Don't think like that. Let's get back to the others and tell them what happened." said Kai.

* * *

In the warehouse, Boris was smiling more than he had ever smiled before.

"_Marina is finally starting to fall under Black Zeroth's influence. The time is coming soon._" he said to himself and laughed evilly.


	10. Clash of Powers

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade in any way. The only character I own is Marina as she's my OC. I have permission to use Tari from my friend, Smiffyizdabest. Any other references I make are purely coincidental.

Chapter 10: Clash of Powers

In the Blitzkrieg Bladers' base, Kai and Tari had told the others what happened when they encountered Boris.

"You gotta be kidding, a beyblade came flying out of nowhere, cut down a tree and nearly squashed you!" said Tyson, getting very panicky.

"Calm down, Tyson. We have to think through what we're going to do next." said Hiro.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." said Tyson and he sat down on the nearest chair.

"Did Boris give you any hints of what he's up to?" Hiro asked Kai and Tari.

"No, he said about how me and Tari had turned down our chances of becoming powerful bladers." said Kai.

"What's that about?" asked Brooklyn, who knew of Kai's past with Black Dranzer, but knew nothing about Tari and Black Spiked Tiger.

"None of your business." said Kai to Brooklyn.

If Brooklyn had been anyone else, he would have retorted to that, but he just silenced and turned back to Hiro.

"And this beyblade that cut down the tree, you have no idea who its owner was?" asked Hiro, trying to get everything together.

"We didn't see it properly, just heard it, though worst case scenario means it was probably Marina's." said Kai.

"Yeah…" said Hiro, who had to admit, he agreed.

"But Marina isn't mean or heartless, she wouldn't do that to Kai or Tari…or any of us." said Tyson.

"So, if it was her, that means Boris has done something to her." concluded Hiro.

Tala had his fists clenched in anger and Brooklyn wasn't showing how he was feeling.

"Tala, calm down. If Boris has done anything to Marina, he will pay, guarantee it." said Hiro.

Tala unclenched his fists, but he was still angry. Brooklyn was starting to develop a look of revenge.

"So, this warehouse. It's not that far away, is it?" asked Hiro.

"Well, that small Siberian town was nearby along with the woods we explored. You get there and the warehouse is a fair size." explained Tari.

They heard the door open and close and they all looked over.

"Where's Brooklyn? Don't tell me he just left." said Tyson.

"What a fool. Strongest blader or not doesn't make him safer from Boris than us." said Bryan with his arms crossed.

"He's Marina's cousin. He cares for her a lot…most likely, more than or equal to Tala." said Tari.

"Good luck to him." said Kai and he walked away.

"_Brooklyn, be careful._" Tari said to herself.

* * *

In the warehouse, Marina was destroying practice beyblades with Black Zeroth. She wasn't holding back in any way…Black Zeroth's influence was taking over.

"_Nothing will stop me from being the best blader in the world. Only two others know the kind of power I'm experiencing and they turned it away…their loss._" she said to herself and smirked to herself.

Above the dish, Boris was watching. He was pleased that Black Zeroth's influence was working and that Marina would become the ultimate, emotionless beyblader he's always wanted.

Not far away, Brooklyn was nearing the warehouse when he heard voices. It seemed, no matter how much of a criminal Boris was, he still had guards and other lackeys on his side.

"_I better watch it. This isn't the sort of place I want to attract attention._" he said to himself and used the trees and bushes to reach the warehouse undetected.

He just reached the last hiding spot before the warehouse's side wall when he heard an animal noise. A young rabbit hopped along the path not far away from Brooklyn. He smiled as he saw it…until…

"These little guys should learn to stay in their holes. They would have a much better chance of survival." said a guard and he cocked his gun.

The gun shot and the rabbit hopped away. It got back to the woods without a mark, fortunately…but the simple fact that these guys were harsh enough to even attempt killing an innocent rabbit was enough to push Brooklyn over the edge.

"_There is no logical reason to injure small animals._" he said to himself and put his blade into his launcher.

After finding a suitable target, he released his blade and charged Zeus' power, causing a lot of damage.

"It's you." said a guard when he spotted Brooklyn.

Brooklyn ordered his blade to attack the warehouse and it crashed through the wall a couple of times.

"Boris, we have a code red." said the guard through his comlink.

On one of the warehouse's higher levels, Boris received the message.

"Who's causing all that trouble?" asked Boris.

Through a viewscreen, he saw the black blade of Zeus and as the camera moved, he saw Brooklyn.

"Oh, yes. This is a better opportunity than I expected. Marina, this is your first chance to battle a real opponent with Black Zeroth." he said.

He left the room and Marina followed.

Outside, most of the guards had fled or at least gone far enough away to avoid Zeus' power. Brooklyn caught his blade as Boris and Marina exited the warehouse.

"Brooklyn, it's been a long time. I guess your winning streak hasn't changed much from when I first met you. Instead of undefeated, you're undefeated but 1 battle." said Boris and evilly laughed.

"I've become a better blader since your shady BEGA were closed down." answered Brooklyn.

"Then why don't you test your new strength and skill on the strongest blade ever to be made." Boris asked and turned his gaze to Marina.

"Marina, what has he done to you?" asked Brooklyn.

"Nothing, cousin. He has only given me the chance to become the strongest blader who's ever lived. The temptation, I guess, comes from you. Both of us will do anything to win, and with this blade, I can always win." she answered.

"I wouldn't trust Boris with anything and I thought you knew better than to trust him." said Brooklyn.

"You always win, Brooklyn. I was second best, I never used to mind, but when I realised this blade could make me stronger than you, I made my choice." she said.

"'This blade'?" he asked and then noticed she wasn't using Zeroth. "If that's not Zeroth, than what is it?" he asked.

"That doesn't matter. Either way, it can beat Zeus." she said.

"In your dreams, Marina. I will finish that blade and Boris, then get you back to normal." he said and put his blade in his launcher.

"I'm going to enjoy this." she said as she put Black Zeroth in her launcher.

Boris did the countdown and both bladers released their blades.

"Zeus, attack." commanded Brooklyn and his blade went at breakneck speed towards Black Zeroth.

"Dodge and counterattack." commanded Marina and her blade avoided Brooklyn's then came round and slammed into it.

"Maybe your new blade will be a challenge, but I know Zeus can do it. Attack!" he shouted and a purple blast of energy was shot at Marina's blade.

"Electric Sphere!" commanded Marina and a small gold shield surrounded her blade.

"If that's not Zeroth, then do you want to explain how you're using his moves?" asked Brooklyn.

"Gladly. Black Zeroth, reveal yourself." she commanded.

The black unicorn rose from the blade, with his gold tail, mane and horn shining in the sunlight.

"Black Zeroth?" said Brooklyn in shock.

Marina laughed at the look of shock and surprise on Brooklyn's face.

"Black Zeroth, show him how we take our opponents down." she said and the black unicorn charged towards Brooklyn's blade.

"Zeus, King of Darkness." said Brooklyn and the demon rose from Brooklyn's black blade and conjured up a black vortex.

Marina used to be slightly confident with this attack, but now she was laughing.

"Black Zeroth, Lightning Flash Beam." she said and the black unicorn blasted a red and black beam of electricity into the centre of the black vortex and it disappeared.

"Not good." muttered Brooklyn.

"Black Zeroth, make your move." she commanded.

"_Now Zeus' strength will fall apart._" muttered Boris to himself.

The black unicorn charged forwards, horn pointing straight, and pierced one of Zeus' wings making the demon roar in pain.

"Zeus!" shouted Brooklyn and he felt a sharp pain hit him as he shared in Zeus' pain.

"Back off, Black Zeroth." said Marina and the unicorn pulled back, removing his horn from the demon's wing.

"_My power is diminishing. I have to think of something._" Brooklyn said to himself.

The bit beasts were in a stand off, facing each other.

"You're not a challenge to me anymore. This is getting boring. Go, Electric Vortex!" she commanded.

Brooklyn gasped as the black unicorn charged up a vortex similar to his own, but surrounded by electricity sparks and lightning bolts.

"Zeus!" he shouted and as the electricity charged vortex came towards him, Zeus dived in front and took the full force of the attack.

"Oh, that is just terrific." Marina said sarcastically. "I forgot that Zeus shares a bond with Brooklyn and would risk his life for him."

Soon after, Brooklyn went flying backwards and hit the ground hard.

"Marina, why did you…do that?" he asked weakly.

"Well, no matter. It's over now. Take a look at your blade, cousin." she said.

He did, it had stopped spinning and the bit piece was blank…Zeus was gone.

"Did you take him?" he asked.

"Hn, no. I don't need any more than Black Zeroth. Your little demon disappeared after taking my attack and saving your life." explained Marina and she caught her blade as it flew back up to her.

"Zeus saved me." he said, a little surprised.

"I don't need to stay here battling you any longer, so tell the others that I'll see them in battle soon…oh yeah, you can also take this." she said and threw Zeroth at Brooklyn's feet.

"You're disregarding your friend, Marina." he said as he picked up the blade.

"I have Black Zeroth and he's more powerful. That's all that matters. Catch ya later, cousin." she said and walked away back to the warehouse.

"You'll pay for this, Boris!" Brooklyn shouted in anger.

Boris ignored him and followed Marina back inside. Brooklyn then set off back to the Russian team's base.


	11. The Balkov Punishment

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade in any way. The only character I own is Marina as she's my OC. I have permission to use Tari from my friend, Smiffyizdabest. Any other references I make are purely coincidental.

Chapter 11: The Balkov Punishment

The walk back from the warehouse to the base wasn't too bad, but to Brooklyn, it seemed to last forever. He was weak and had a lot on his mind. He had just battled his cousin, the one person who he thought he could trust, and now his bit beast had disappeared. He also now had her old blade in his pocket.

On returning to the base, the others saw him and ran over.

"What's wrong with you?" asked Tyson, not thinking ahead as usual.

"Tyson, give him a break." said Ray. "What happened, Brooklyn?"

"She's gone." he muttered weakly.

As he walked past Tala, he handed him Marina's old blade.

"She hasn't…" said Tala in disbelief as he looked down at the black and gold blade in his hands.

Brooklyn continued to walk towards the base. Unnoticed by him, his blade fell out his pocket, but Hiro noticed and picked it up.

"We can't put too much pressure on Brooklyn. He's been through enough." said Hiro holding Brooklyn's empty blade up to the others. They all gasped at seeing the blank bit piece.

"Some of us have been down that road. We know how he feels." said Max.

They all went inside the base.

Kai happened to find Brooklyn and, even though he knew how Brooklyn felt, he wanted to know exactly what happened.

"Brooklyn, you can't sulk about losing Zeus. You have to tell us what happened some time."

Brooklyn looked up at Kai, but didn't say anything.

"Well, I'm guessing Boris has done something so just tell us what it is." Kai said, sounding a little impatient.

"He's made Marina use a Black Zeroth." answered Brooklyn and he looked away.

"A Black Zeroth? You mean like I used Black Dranzer all those years ago?" asked Kai.

"Yes, this Black Zeroth is much stronger than Zeroth and exceeded Zeus' power easily. It also had the evil influence over Marina. She's a changed person." Brooklyn said.

"So Zeus didn't stand a chance. That does make things difficult, but there is no way we're going to give up." Kai replied as he walked over to the door.

"Of course not. Boris won't get away with doing this to my cousin." said Brooklyn, clenching his fist.

Kai was a little surprised at seeing Brooklyn like this and realised how much he must care for Marina.

"We'll get Marina back to normal." he said as he left the room.

Brooklyn almost smiled as Kai left. He hadn't quite expected the conversation to go that well…after what happened last time.

**Flashback**

_They walked through the corridors, not talking much. They got so many floors up when they encountered Tari. She still looked distracted._

"_Are you all right?__"__ Brooklyn asked politely._

"_Brooklyn, leave me alone. I don__'__t trust you or like you and I__'__m not going to pretend otherwise.__"__ said Tari and she walked away from them._

_Brooklyn watched her go and Kai noticed._

"_You better not have a thing for my sister.__"__ he said, giving Brooklyn a dark glare._

"_Well, I__…__um.__"__ said Brooklyn, a little embarrassed and trying to find an excuse._

"_You do.__"__ said Kai, knowing for sure now._

_Brooklyn looked a little nervous._

"_Do you know what Tari__'__s been through? She doesn__'__t need you making things worse.__"__ said Kai._

"_I don__'__t intend to make things worse.__"__ said Brooklyn backing away a little._

"_Your presence makes things worse and the only reason I haven__'__t said anything before now was for Marina__'__s sake.__"_

"_Sorry, Kai. I__'__ll leave Tari alone.__"__ promised Brooklyn._

"_You better leave her alone. Don__'__t go near her or you__'__ll wish you had never been born.__"__ Kai said and walked away; leaving Brooklyn with a small look of relief on his face that nothing else had happened._

**End Flashback**

**

* * *

**

In the warehouse, Marina was sitting near a beydish looking at Black Zeroth. She was thinking about what she had done to Brooklyn.

"_What happened to me? I never wanted to do that to him. He can't possibly trust me now. I injured him and I made him lose Zeus. How can he forgive me for that?_" she asked herself.

Boris walked into the room and saw Marina staring at the blade.

"Marina, I expected you to be a little more enthusiastic. After all, you defeated the ex-strongest blader in the world and now his bit beast is gone. He isn't a threat anymore." he said to her.

"I shouldn't have done that to him. This blade is dangerous and I'm not sure if I should use it anymore." she said, very bravely considering she knew Boris' past.

"Marina, that blade is your ticket to being the strongest blader ever. Power is all that matters." he said, getting annoyed.

"It isn't a ticket to power. It isn't even something I want. It's all for you, so you can get your plan sorted. The plan you have managed to screw up so many times before now!" she argued back to him.

"You're really pushing it, Marina." he said.

"I don't care. I don't want this blade anymore…" she was interrupted by a sudden hit round the face which made her fall to the ground.

"You've asked for this, Marina." he snapped his fingers and all the doors were locked by guards.

Suddenly realising that standing up for herself did her no good, she looked very scared.

"You are making me do something I really don't want to do." he said smirking.

She was just about to stand up when a sudden blow hit her back.

"And if that wasn't enough…" started Boris and made the whip hit Marina's back again.

She could feel tears coming, but tried to hold them back. She didn't want to give Boris the satisfaction.

"You're a glutton for punishment." he said as she attempted to stand up again.

He cracked the whip again and it caught her arm this time, leaving a long cut.

"Tarinfia made her grandfather go this far in the past. Even Tala got himself in trouble, but not quite as much." Boris smirked as Marina's fists clenched.

"Tarinfia is Tari's full name, isn't it?" she asked. Boris nodded. "You and Voltaire did this to her!"

"She made us. It was regrettable, but had to be done." said Boris, obviously lying.

He cracked the whip a fourth time, this time catching her other arm and leaving a cut.

"Tala was right, you're heartless, no doubt about it." she said as she felt tears sliding down her cheeks.

He hit her three more times, leaving multiple cuts on her arms.

"Maybe you'll learn now not to backchat to me…or disobey orders." he said as blood dripped to the floor from Marina's wounds.

She just nodded in defeat and as she looked down again at her injuries, the tears fell thicker.

"Follow me…Now!" he said.

As he lifted the whip, Marina followed in fear of being hit again and Boris led her down the corridor.

"In here." he opened the door and smiled to himself as she entered.

About five or so minutes after closing the door, Marina screamed…

* * *

**Notes**

**

* * *

**

**I bet you're interested to find out what Boris did to her. Chapter 12 will hold the answer.**


	12. At Least There's Some Peace

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade in any way. The only character I own is Marina as she's my OC. I have permission to use Tari from my friend, Smiffyizdabest. Any other references I make are purely coincidental.

Chapter 12: At Least There's Some Peace

In the Russian team's base, everyone was thinking about what they were going to do now that Marina was using a Black Zeroth.

"_I can't stand Boris...but now he has gone way too far._" said Tala to himself as he looked down at Marina's old blade, Zeroth.

* * *

Brooklyn had been very quiet and was avoiding the others. At this moment in time, he was sitting on a hill near the base looking at the sky and the fast moving clouds.

"_I will not let Boris get away with doing this to her. He'll pay._" he said to himself.

* * *

In the warehouse, Marina was training with Black Zeroth again, though she wasn't quite as certain as she was before that she was doing the right thing. The injuries she got from Boris' punishments were still hurting very badly, though she knew if she didn't train, Boris would just give her more injuries.

"Black Zeroth, attack." she said weakly, but determinedly.

Every time she looked at her hands, when launching her blade or just in general, she felt tears which she always quickly hid so Boris didn't see or else he'd think she was weak.

She had two blue triangle tattoos, one on the back of each hand, starting from the bottom of each hand and ending at the bottom of each of her middle fingers.

"Marina, you are not even trying. You release Black Zeroth's power or else..." he said, twisting the whip in his hands.

"Black Zeroth, emerge and destroy them." she commanded and the black unicorn rose from his bit piece and shattered the trainee blades.

"Much better, young Marina." said Boris, almost smiling as Marina tried to keep her balance since she was so weak.

"Anything else to be done, sir?" she asked, only barely hiding her anger at saying that.

"Not for today." he said. He turned to a guard. "Take her back to her cell."

The guard nodded and pulled Marina by her arm to the basement. She had been forced to stay down there since after her battle with Brooklyn.

Once the guard threw her into the cell, she collapsed to her knees. The guard left after locking the door and Marina let fall all the tears she had been hiding.

* * *

Back at the base, Brooklyn was still sitting on the hill, when the most unexpected person came over to him.

"Brooklyn?" she said.

He turned around, it was Tari.

"What are you doing here, Tari?" he asked, a little surprised.

"To return your blade. Hiro asked me to fix it." she said and dropped the empty, black blade into his hand.

"Thank you, but there wasn't much point in doing it. Without Zeus, I'm nothing." he said.

"Everyone knows it isn't all about the bit beast. It has just as much to do with the design of the blade, how the blader feels..." she said and stopped.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing." she said.

"Okay." Brooklyn decided to not pry into her personal business.

They just sat there for a while, looking at the sky.

"I have to admit...I did feel a bit worried about you." she said suddenly.

"I thought you hated me, like your brother."

"I did at first, but I guess I started...to like you a bit." she said with a slight blush.

"I like you too, Tari. When I first saw you, I liked you, but I was also wary about you." he said and she smiled.

"Don't worry about it, it takes a lot to gain my trust." she said.

"Do you think we have a chance to stop Boris and bring Marina back?" he asked.

"Yes. Marina can break free of Black Zeroth. Both me and Kai have had similar...experiences." she said.

"It's okay, you don't have to explain it to me." he said.

They paused in their conversation again for a while, until...

"Tari, I need to admit something." he said, a little slowly.

"What? Is everything okay?" she asked, with concern in her voice.

"My feelings go further than just caring for you...I like being around you and it feels like nothing can go wrong." he said, which surprised Tari, but she smiled.

"I feel the same way, Brooklyn." she said and they both stood up.

"We have to get back and help the others stop Boris." he said.

He kissed her cheek and headed off back to the base. Tari stood there, blushing a lot, and then also headed back to the base.

Unknown to them two, Kai had seen the whole thing and was now slightly growling under his breath.

* * *

Over at the warehouse, Marina had fallen asleep in her cell...and was awoken with a shock when the door opened and Boris was back.

"You're lucky I've given you this long to regain some strength, so, let's get Black Zeroth up to scratch." he said.

She got to her feet and followed Boris back to the training room.

"_I need to get out of here. If only Tala and the others could help._" she said to herself.

She continued to work hard, but didn't feel like she was getting anywhere. In the long run, she didn't care what she did, as long as Boris didn't hurt her again.


	13. Is Time Up?

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade in any way. The only characters I own are Marina and Pyro as they are my OCs. I have permission to use Tari from my friend, Smiffyizdabest. Any other references I make are purely coincidental.

Chapter 13: Is Time Up?

In the warehouse, Marina was training again with Black Zeroth. She was still very upset about her tattoos and being forced to be so violent in battle…but she did it anyway, in fear of being hit again.

"Black Zeroth, no mercy." she commanded as the blade shredded its way through the practice blades.

"_Everything is going to plan. When Black Zeroth gets total control over Marina, nothing will stand in my way._" said Boris to himself as he watched Marina from above.

"Lightning Flash." she shouted and the black unicorn shot a blast of red electricity, finishing off the rest of the practice blades.

The blade flew back into her hand and she turned as Boris came over.

"You are doing very well, but you are still not ready to face your friends yet." he said, looking down at her.

Marina looked up slowly; she had been expecting to hear that. After facing Brooklyn, which resulted in Zeus' disappearance, she was sure she might have to face Tala and the others soon.

"Marina, I'd say it's finally time for advanced training, which won't take you long to complete." said Boris and turned away, indicating she should follow him.

They walked down a few corridors and reached a room with two, big, black doors. Boris opened them and entered, Marina behind him.

"These bladers will be your next lesson." and Boris smirked evilly as Marina looked around at them.

"Where did you find them?" she asked.

"They're just everyday street bladers. They blade to live. If they win matches, they get the right to eat a good meal. If they lose, they starve." he explained and Marina gasped quietly.

"No reason to feel sorry for us. We're not doing anything against our will." one of the kids spoke up.

"That's the reason you lost all the time. You were weak and thought more about others than yourself." said another boy.

This boy had a leather jacket with spikes coming out the shoulders and back. His hair was black at the fringe and middle, sticking up at points, but the back was long and red. He had brown eyes.

"You see, Marina, this boy is a prime example of what happens when you end up with no money and win or lose are your only options." said Boris to Marina as he walked over to the two boys.

The first boy just moved away quietly.

"Take him back to the town. I just realised he hasn't got the right attitude for perfecting Marina's Black Zeroth." said Boris to a guard.

The kid almost smiled and the guard escorted him out and back to the outskirts of town.

"Boris, if I'm the one to perfect your newest creation, why are the rest of the wimps here?" asked the boy next to Boris.

"He has a point. Guard; take all the children back to town. We have our perfect candidate." said Boris.

Another guard took all the other children back to the town, leaving just the kid in the leather jacket.

"What is going on?" asked Marina.

"You are thick. If you're as thick as that then you must be powerful, otherwise Boris would have no use for you." said the boy.

Marina growled a little.

"Now, now, Pyro, take it easy. You'll find a challenge here today." said Boris.

"Pyro, huh? You have one heck of an ego." said Marina.

"You'll see why soon enough." he said smiling.

Marina frowned and Boris smiled.

"This match will take place right here, no dish, just an all-out battle. No rules. The last blade spinning wins." said Boris.

Both players prepared their blades.

* * *

Over at the Russian team's base, things were not improving. Tala was still clearly showing his anger. A few times, the others could hear him cursing to himself in Russian.

"If Marina isn't helped soon, Tala will lose it." whispered Bryan to Spencer.

Spencer nodded. Ian was sitting next to him and nodded as well.

Tari was partly watching Hiro as he worked on their next plan, though her gaze slipped onto Brooklyn some times. She was trying not to look at him too much though or Kai was bound to notice. Unbeknownst to her, he already knew.

Brooklyn himself was actually getting a little anxious about the occasional dark glare he was getting from Kai.

"Hiro, why don't we just get over to that base and challenge them as a group?" Tyson suddenly yelled, surprising everyone.

"Tyson, listen to me, we are not strong enough. Brooklyn couldn't even challenge her one-on-one and he's stronger than all of us." replied Hiro.

Tyson didn't argue back for once and sat down next to Max.

"Well, Brooklyn _was _stronger than all of us anyway." said Kai.

Tari gave Kai a very dark glare, but amazingly, he didn't notice.

"Tyson, you know we can't help Marina without a plan. You have to chill out." said Ray.

"I just don't like sitting around when there has to be something we can do." said Tyson.

"Tyson, me and Tala want to do everything we can to help Marina, but without a plan, we'll just make things worse." said Brooklyn.

Tyson just nodded and left it at that.

* * *

In the warehouse, the battle was ready to begin.

"Pyro, Marina…3…2…1…let it rip!" said Boris and the blades were released.

Marina's black blade zig zagged around the room and Pyro's red blade followed.

"_He has a plan, he can't just be following me unaware of what I can do._" said Marina to herself.

"There is no way you can beat me, girlie." said Pyro as his blade sped up.

"Reverse Lightning Flash Beam!" she commanded and the red electricity beam shot backwards at Pyro's blade.

"Damn you…not too bad for a learner." said Pyro.

"A learner? Me and my team are 2nd place in the world championships, so you better think about that." she said.

"Good for you, but not all the best bladers go to the tournaments. Go Pyrotoa!" he commanded of his bit beast.

From his blade's bit piece rose a red dragon with orange armour.

"Oh no. Black Zeroth, emerge!" shouted Marina.

"You can't defeat what's never been defeated." laughed Pyro.

"I know someone who used to think they could never be defeated and he was defeated eventually. The same can happen to you…go Electric Sphere." she said.

"Blocking my attacks. That's a first, but it doesn't mean you'll win. Fireballs!" he commanded and Pyrotoa shot balls of fire out at Black Zeroth who managed to hold up against them.

"That's it. Now, get him!" she commanded in confidence.

"It's not over yet, Blondie! Heatwave!" he ordered of Pyrotoa.

The whole room got hot, but it was Marina who got most affected and felt her balance going steadily.

"I can't give up. Lightning Flash." she said, but Black Zeroth could barely gather the energy to fire.

"Your bit beast may be powerful, but you sure aren't." laughed Pyro.

Marina gasped in pain as she felt the heat starting to actually burn her.

"This can't go on. Electric Vortex." she ordered.

The vortex surrounded by electricity approached Pyro.

"Pyrotoa, block it!" he said in panic.

His bit beast loyally got in front of him and saved him, but his blade stopped spinning afterwards.

"I lost." he said and growled as he picked up his blade.

Marina was on her knees exhausted.

"Good battle. Marina has become more immersed in Black Zeroth's power than I thought. Well done, Pyro. You can go home and sort out those other weak children now." said Boris.

Pyro left the warehouse, ignoring the guard next to him.

"How do you feel, Marina?" Boris asked her.

"Better, much better. I'll do whatever it takes." she stood up and lifted her head. She was smirking evilly.

Does Black Zeroth have her under his control now?

* * *

**Notes**

**

* * *

**

**If anyone likes the character of Pyro, please let me know now…because I'm debating whether or not to include him in later FanFictions.**


	14. A Plan at Last

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade in any way. The only characters I own are Marina and Pyro as they are my OCs. I have permission to use Tari from my friend, Smiffyizdabest. Any other references I make are purely coincidental.

Chapter 14: A Plan at Last

In the warehouse, Marina was becoming more violent in her matches. She had been like this since her match with Pyro.

"Black Zeroth, destroy them. Show no mercy!" she shouted.

The black blade circled the dish and left a scorch trail behind it.

"I cannot be beaten. This blade makes me the ultimate blader who has ever lived." she said smirking as she watched the blade.

"Marina, think back to battling Pyro. Use what you felt." instructed Boris.

"Boris, I will do whatever it takes. You will control beyblading…through me." she said.

Boris smiled. As long as he got what he wanted, he didn't care how it happened.

"Black Zeroth, annihilate them!" she commanded.

The black blade shredded the trainee blades. The remains of the blades were dust.

"_I don't want to harm my old friends, but if they stand in my way…then they are finished._" she said to herself as she watched her blade spin in place at the centre of the dish.

* * *

Over in the Russian team's base, it seemed like Hiro was finally formulating a plan of sorts because every now and then, he smiled.

"This is getting on my nerves." said Bryan to Spencer.

"Calm down, Bry." answered Spencer wisely.

"Calm down? Our best blader is on the side of evil, she happens to be the second strongest blader around…and she's a friend."

"Yes, she's a friend and means a lot to us…especially Tala." said Spencer and he looked over at his captain who was sitting away from the others with his head bent over in his hands.

"We better get her back. I don't like seeing Tala like this. He's a friend too." said Bryan.

On the other side of the room, against the wall, were Kai and Tari.

"Why does Boris keep trying?" Tari suddenly asked.

"He's stubborn and refuses to give up. It seems the only thing we can do is just keep trying to stop him." answered Kai.

* * *

Not far away, Tyson, Ray and Max were discussing the events that had happened.

"What exactly is Boris after this time?" asked Max.

"Same as last time I think: control over beyblading." answered Ray.

"He screwed that up with BEGA, what makes him think this will succeed when a whole organization with five top bladers failed?" asked Tyson.

"Because Marina's combination with Black Zeroth makes her stronger than the best BEGA had." said Kenny, joining the conversation.

"Kenny, it isn't about power." said Tyson.

"Tyson's right…it's about feelings, emotions. We need to help Marina break through Black Zeroth's evil influence over her." said Tala, also joining the conversation.

"Tala, it's not as simple as making her break through…she'll be willing to harm us all. Maybe she's a lost cause…" said Tyson and was interrupted.

"Don't even go there, Tyson. She is a lot better than you give her credit for." said Tala.

Both bladers were getting frustrated and an argument was going to happen.

"Better as what? A blader…or better as your girlfriend?" asked Tyson harshly.

"Tyson, take that back." said Ray.

"Tyson, if you want to be an idiot, go right ahead. I know how to handle people like you." said Tala and turned away.

"Oh yeah, it's more or less your fault we're in this mess!" shouted Tyson.

"Tyson!" said Max in an attempt to stop what could become very serious.

Tala argued back in Russian.

"I don't have a clue what you're saying, dude." said Tyson. "So it's not going to work."

Kai was almost smiling since he knew what Tala was saying and probably wanted to say something similar to Tyson when Tyson annoys him.

"That's it. Break it up!" shouted Hiro and stood between the two bladers.

Tyson stopped moaning and Tala stopped arguing in Russian.

"Tala, you should know better." Tala frowned, but walked away. "And Tyson…"

Tyson looked up at his older brother.

"Grow up." finished Hiro and went back to the table.

Tyson frowned as well and went back over to Ray and Max, who were looking at him, but looked away when he approached them.

"Come on guys. I know, I went too far." said Tyson.

"Went too far? Tyson, you insulted a friend who's been through a lot. It's going to take a lot to get any forgiveness." said Kai who was still standing by the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.

Tyson looked down, feeling very guilty now.

"Okay, I think I have a plan." said Hiro about thirty minutes later.

"What is it?" asked Kenny running over to where Hiro was.

"Since Brooklyn is without Zeus, I have concluded that Kai, Tari and Tala are our best bet to face Marina…but it has to be the three of you working together."

Kai and Tala nodded, but Tari was looking unsure.

"I'm not strong enough to challenge Marina." she said.

"You're stronger than me, Tari. I'm going to battle and bring her back, no matter what." said Tala.

Tari nodded, but still looked unsure.

"Okay, in a day's time, we'll challenge Boris. I know, why wait a day? Well, we can't rush in, that will be to our enemy's advantage." said Hiro.

Everyone nodded.

In the warehouse.

* * *

"Boris, when can I get out there? I've done more training than I need." said Marina.

"Marina, be patient. There will be plenty of time to defeat your old team-mates and friends. You are not ready to face Tala yet. I know that for certain." said Boris.

"I'm stronger than Tala…" she started.

"But your feelings for him will stop you fighting at your best and I refuse to be stopped because of a lovesick teenager." said Boris angrily.

"Okay, but I will defeat him. I will do what you want. I will do it for me and Black Zeroth." she declared.

"Just what I want." he said. "_Watch out, Blitzkrieg Bladers…watch out Tarinfia…and watch out…Kai._" he said almost snarling as he thought of Kai, because it was mostly Kai's fault BEGA failed.


	15. Prepare for Battle

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade in any way. The only characters I own are Marina and Pyro as they are my OCs. I have permission to use Tari from my friend, Smiffyizdabest. Any other references I make are purely coincidental.

Chapter 15: Prepare for Battle

In the warehouse, Marina was continuing her training, determined to reach her top standard so she could move on from training in this dismal, old building.

"Black Zeroth, destroy them now. Don't hold back!" she shouted.

The blade ripped through the trainee blades faster than ever, it was like a blur. The only way you could tell where it was going was the scorch trail behind it.

"_There is no way I will be beaten anymore. I'm stronger than everyone now. I will not stop until I am the ultimate blader on the planet. My old friends don't mean anything to me now._" she said to herself and her blade flew back to her hand.

"Marina, you are still not there yet. You are battling with violence, this is true…but I don't think you have the desire to face Tala and beat him the way I want you to." said Boris as he watched her train.

"Whatever you say, sir. I will keep training and I will become the blader who will never lose. My feelings won't stop me." she said to Boris.

"Just what I hoped you'd say." said Boris.

"Though I admit, sir…" she started slowly and looking down.

"What?" he asked with annoyance noticeable in his voice.

"I don't know how long it will take to completely…remove my feelings for Tala." she said.

"Marina Kingston…you listen to me. If you don't lose your feelings for him by the end of the day, you'll pay for it." he said threateningly.

"Yes, sir." she said and nodded.

"Good, now, get back to your training." he ordered.

She turned back to the dish and re-released her blade.

* * *

Over in the team's base, Hiro was setting up their last day's training schedule.

"I expect you all to train today. We have to do everything we can to prepare Kai, Tala and Tari for their battle with Marina tomorrow." he said to the group.

"Bryan, Spencer and Ray, you three will face Tala first." he continued.

They all nodded.

"Tyson, Max and Ian, you'll face Kai."

They nodded as well.

"Tari, I want you to train alone, at least for a while, and then I'll switch the groups around."

Tari nodded.

"What do you expect me to do?" asked Brooklyn, who, after figuring it out, realised he hadn't been chosen to do any training.

"You won't be in the battle and since you haven't got Zeus, I wanted to keep your blade out the fighting. You don't want it damaged." said Hiro.

Brooklyn just nodded in agreement.

"Now that's sorted, Kenny, get the battles started."

The group went outside except Tari; she headed down to the basement.

"_I can train fine down here, it's a lot quieter than training with the guys, especially when Tyson's around._" she said to herself as she set up a small obstacle course.

When she was ready, she released her blade.

"Go Spiked Tiger." she said and her purple blade zigzagged through the obstacles.

Just when it reached the end of the obstacle course however, it clipped one of them and spun to a stop.

"What happened? That was a flawless launch and I had perfect control." she said and she walked over to pick up her blade.

She was about to re-release her blade when she heard a sound behind her and she turned around.

"Brooklyn, what are you doing down here?" she asked.

"I haven't got anything else to do." he answered.

Tari smiled as he walked over.

"How's the training going so far?" he asked.

"Not so good. My blade hit an obstacle right near the end." she said.

"I'll be willing to help out if I can." he said. "Come on, launch your blade again."

"Okay." she said, a little unsure.

She did and the blade went a little wobbly on landing, but was in control so it went through the obstacles well…until it again hit the last one.

"You see? There was no reason for that to happen." she said, looking at Brooklyn.

"We both know your launch wasn't as perfect as you'll need it to be, but otherwise, I think you're distracted." he said.

"Maybe…" she started.

"Come here, Tari." he said and he walked over to her and stood right next to her.

"What are you doing?" she asked as he got his launcher and blade out.

"Watch closely." he said.

He pulled the ripcord and his blade went flying straight down and landed perfectly then zigzagged through all the obstacles and didn't hit any of them.

"What was the purpose of that? You were just showing off." said Tari as Brooklyn caught his blade.

"No, Tari. I was showing you what was different about my launch and control." he explained.

"What was different?" she asked.

"Launch your blade like you did the first time, but as you concentrate on directing your blade, time the movement a bit sooner than you were before." he explained again.

"You mean like this?" she asked.

She released her blade and the launch was perfect. When it reached the last obstacle, it still hit it though.

"What am I doing wrong, Brooklyn?" she asked in frustration.

"You're not timing when to make your blade move, you are missing on tight turns, you need to concentrate on moving it before you make the turn so the blade can react in time. Remember, at those speeds, timing your movement is key to succeeding." he said.

"I see what you mean now." she said smiling and released her blade for a fourth time.

Her blade zigzagged perfectly through the obstacles and made it to the end without hitting a single thing.

"I knew you'd get it, Tari." he said proudly.

"Thank you, Brooklyn." she said catching her blade.

They sat down together against the wall. Brooklyn was sitting with one leg stretched out and the other bent in an arch so he was resting his arm on it. Tari sat next to him, her head leaning against his shoulder.

"Tari, I don't want you to face Marina tomorrow." Brooklyn said suddenly.

"What? I have to help Tala and Kai, they can't fight her alone." she said.

"Tari, she is so strong. She beat me without trying, remember?" said Brooklyn and showed Tari the blank bit piece in his blade.

"I know, but I have to try. It's just as much my fault we're in this mess so I have to help put it right." she said.

"She'll be fighting without restraint, Tari…she could kill you." said Brooklyn.

"I have to take that risk. It's the only way we can get her back. I know you're worried, Brooklyn, but we can do it." she said.

"Well, be very careful, Tari." he said.

"I will." she said.

They kissed.

* * *

A few hours later, in the warehouse, Marina was sitting next to a beydish and was talking to Black Zeroth.

"_What can I do? I've done all Boris wants and I'm trying to do this so I can become the best blader ever._" she asked.

"_**Marina, there is only one way to get yourself out of possible trouble with Boris…and that is to let me take over.**_" the black unicorn said sneakily.

"_Okay, Black Zeroth…if that's the only way, then do it._" she said.

"_**We will be a great team; don't let it wear on your mind. I will make you the strongest you've ever been.**_" he said.

He powered up and a black-red aura surrounded Marina, as if changing her from the inside-out.

Boris soon walked into the room.

"Marina, are you finally ready to face Tala?" he asked.

She chuckled evilly.

"Yes I am, I will finish him and all of them will fall. I will be the best and no one can stop me." she said and laughed evilly.

What else can go wrong?


	16. Emotion vs Power

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade in any way. The only characters I own are Marina and Pyro as they are my OCs. I have permission to use Tari from my friend, Smiffyizdabest. Any other references I make are purely coincidental.

Chapter 16: Emotion vs. Power

In the base, Kai and Tala were taking care of their last minute plans before they faced Marina…later today.

"She's very powerful, remember Tala. You can't hold back in any way." Kai said.

"I know, Kai. I still can't believe Boris has managed to use her like this." replied Tala and he growled under his breath as he clenched his fists.

"Tala, you have to calm down." said Kai. "You'll be no use if you lose your temper and get defeated easily."

Tala relaxed and nodded.

"Do you think we have any chance, Kai?" he asked after a few minutes.

"Normally, I'd say no, but we've both seen too much to rule out anything." said Kai.

"Kai, do we have a chance?" Tari whispered to him.

"I don't know. I really don't know. We have to try though, I know that."

* * *

Over in the warehouse, Marina was psyched for battle.

"Come on, Marina. Keep pushing into Black Zeroth's power." ordered Boris.

"I will. Nothing will stop me now. Go, Black Zeroth!" she shouted.

The black blade destroyed the trainee blades and came flying back to Marina's hand in a matter of seconds.

"Are we facing those losers later, Boris?" she asked.

Boris smiled. "Yes, Marina, _you _are." he answered.

She smirked evilly and looked down at her bit piece.

"_Black Zeroth, we are going to win. Nothing will stop us._" she said.

"_**I know.**_" he answered and did a low, deep neigh.

* * *

Back in the base, Hiro called them all for a team meeting.

"All right, listen up. We're facing our biggest challenge yet and we've done all the preparation we can. We know what to expect because we know Marina, plus Brooklyn has already faced this Black Zeroth." he said.

"Hiro, we all know what's at stake. Can you please not drag it out?" asked Tyson, and he got glares from the Russians.

"Tyson, you don't understand yet. We have to go through this…" started Hiro, but he was interrupted.

"No, we don't. The longer we wait, the more Black Zeroth's evil influences Marina." said Brooklyn.

The others nodded. They agreed with Brooklyn there.

"Okay, we'll head out soon to that warehouse." said Hiro. "Get your blades ready because we might just need any help we can get."

* * *

A few hours later and it was time at last. They all left the base to go to the warehouse.

"Tari, try and relax." advised Kai, noticing that his sister was on edge.

"I'll try, Kai, but I still can't help feeling this is all my fault." she said quietly.

"It's not your fault. We've been through this, Tar…it's just one of those very unfortunate situations that happen." said Kai and he held her hand for a while.

Brooklyn was walking alone and thinking of his battle with Marina and how he lost Zeus.

"_Will I get Zeus back? As important as he is to me…I worry about Marina more. Will she come back?_" he asked himself.

The remaining team members were almost avoiding each other's gazes.

"We don't have a chance at this." said Tyson, and the others looked at him, some of them annoyed.

"Listen here, Tyson. If you want to give up, you can. We'll keep fighting and we'll bring her back. Then, you can be the one who feels guilty for not helping a friend." said Spencer wisely.

"He's right, dude. You better get your puny self in gear, you hear? Or get lost." said Bryan.

"Okay." said Tyson and he shrugged.

When they arrived at the warehouse, no one was there. That meant Boris was expecting them or else guards would have been around.

"Boris, get out of there!" Tala shouted.

Hiro looked at Tala, since that wasn't the plan, but didn't say anything and watched the doors as they began to open.

"Nice to see you all at my doorstep. Most of you I didn't expect to see." Boris said as he came outside and set his gaze on the bladers.

"We're not here to socialise, Boris. We're going to end your dark plans." said Kai.

"I've heard that one before." and he laughed evilly.

"Where is my cousin?" demanded Brooklyn.

"She's fine, Brooklyn. Why would I lie?" said Boris and he stepped aside.

They all watched the entrance and Marina came out looking at them all darkly.

"What's happened to you, Marina?" asked Tala.

"Nothing. Boris is right, I'm fine. Just…" and she smirked a bit. "New and improved."

Just then, Kai noticed Marina's scars on her arms and pointed them out to Tala and Tari.

"That's it, Boris! How dare you hurt her like that?" said Tala angrily.

Tari gasped as memories of her punishments in the Abbey came back to her.

"I should have known you'd do something like this to her." she said suddenly and Kai looked at her.

"Tarinfia, that was my own fault, and I took the punishment so forget it." said Marina.

Tari growled at her full name being used, but overlooked it because of how serious the situation was.

"So, out of you weaklings, who's going down first?" asked Marina and she moved her hair behind her shoulders.

"Us three." said Tala. He stepped forward with Kai and Tari.

"Three against one. I never pegged you lot as unfair." and she almost chuckled.

"Your overconfidence is going to be your downfall." said Kai as he readied his blade and launcher.

"We will bring you back and stop Boris' plans." said Tari and she also readied her blade and launcher.

"Three is better than one any day." said Tala and he readied his blade and launcher.

"You guys don't have a clue. Emotion is your key, but it won't unlock this door." she said holding out Black Zeroth for them to see.

"Her hand…" said Tari as she saw the blue triangle which had been tattooed on Marina.

"Correction: hands." and Marina held out her other hand.

"Boris, you've taken it too far. How dare you!" shouted Tala.

"She's mine now and she'll defeat you. She will be the one to end your pathetic beyblading lives." said Boris.

Brooklyn, who had also seen the blue tattoos, growled and clenched his fists.

"Okay, then. Let's get started." and Marina put the blade in her launcher.

"3…2…1…let it rip." said Hiro and the four bladers released their blades.

"There is no point in dragging this out. Get them, Black Zeroth." Marina commanded.

The blade targeted Dranzer, who was in the middle of the opposing three.

"Avoid it and come round for an attack." said Kai and his blade did avoid Marina's, though it wasn't fast enough to come round and attack her off guard.

"Nice try, Kai. You got me so worried." she said sarcastically.

Kai growled.

"Spiked Tiger, Poison Needle Claw." said Tari and the tiger rose from her bit piece.

The tiger charged at Marina's blade.

"This is getting so boring. Attack her with Lightning Flash." said Marina.

Just as the tiger's claws were about to hit their mark, Black Zeroth appeared in a flash of black and red light.

"Oh my…it looks so powerful." muttered Tari. "Get away from it, Spiked Tiger." she shouted.

The tiger couldn't and was hit with a blast of red and black electricity. She roared in pain as she backed away.

"Hold on…" begged Tari, but she also was weak, from feeling Spiked Tiger's pain. She was nearly on her knees.

"Tari?" asked Kai worriedly.

"I'm fine." she said and stood back up to full height.

"Stubborn to the end. What is it with you Russians?" Marina asked and laughed.

"Novae Rog!" shouted Tala and the white wolf charged at Black Zeroth with a light blue glow around it.

Marina sighed. "Electric Sphere." she said, sounding so bored.

Wolborg's attack broke through and Marina gasped.

"How did you do that? No one can break through my power." she said.

"Determination. The beyblading spirit, maybe, which of course, you seem to have lost." said Tala.

She growled.

"Ready, Kai?" Tari whispered and Kai nodded.

"Blazing Twister!" they both said simultaneously.

Spiked Tiger rose inside a twister from Tari's blade and Dranzer rose from Kai's blade. Their attacks combined forming a tornado on fire.

"Wow, I want to do that." said Tyson. Bryan heard him and rolled his eyes.

"What? What is that? Black Zeroth, defend against that. Now!" Marina ordered.

Black Zeroth tried to defend, but the attack did do some good.

"See, Marina. Teamwork is the best." Tari said a little happily. "Marina?" she asked and her small amount of happiness disappeared.

"No, I cannot lose. I was promised power…and I have it." said Marina and she held her head in her hands.

"Marina, don't let it control you." pleaded Tala.

"Tala. I don't care about you or your friends. I want power. I will do anything to win!" and she glowed black and red as her power increased.

"This has never happened before." said Tyson.

The sky darkened and lightning bolts flashed across it.

"I can't get a decent signal anymore." said Kenny who was furiously typing on his laptop.

"What do you mean, chief?" asked Max coming over.

"My screen keeps fizzing. The connection is failing." said Kenny and the others gasped. After all, Kenny's laptop had never failed before in a big battle.

"Marina, calm down. You'll threaten the planet." said Kai.

"Butt out, Kai. I will do what I want. Black Zeroth, destroy them!" she commanded.

A sudden flash of electricity sent Kai and Tari flying backwards.

"She's lost it." said Ray as he and Bryan helped Kai up.

"I wouldn't be able to help even if I had Zeus." said Brooklyn as he helped Tari up.

Kai almost growled that Brooklyn was near Tari, but there was more to worry about right now.

"Are you okay, guys?" asked Tala.

"We'll be fine. What do you think you're doing? Pay attention to the battle!" shouted Kai.

"Right." said Tala and he turned back to Marina.

"You don't stand a chance, Tala. I will finish you and be the best." she said and smirked evilly.

"Marina, I will save you and bring you back. No matter what it takes." said Tala.

Suddenly, Wolborg disappeared and Tala's blade rolled aside.

"Did she even attack?" asked Tari weakly. She had her arm round Brooklyn's shoulders and he had his arm around her waist.

"Yes. It was so fast though." said Brooklyn.

"Too easy. It looks like Boris will be in charge from now on." said Marina with her arms crossed.

"Don't speak so soon, cous. Tala…remember something?" said Brooklyn.

Tala put his hand in his pocket and brought out Zeroth.

"No, not him. Why did you bring him here?" she asked.

"I just happened to have it. Now, I'm going to use it. Go, Zeroth!" said Tala and he released the black and gold blade.

"Black Zeroth, defeat it." she ordered.

"**No impostor can beat the original.**" said Zeroth and he defended against his alter ego.

"**You are a fool, Zeroth. I'm better than you could ever be and I'm in control of your old friend.**" said Black Zeroth and he attempted pushing back.

"Marina, remember all we've been through." said Tala.

"**Marina, this is a fake. Ignore him and let me in.**" said Zeroth.

Marina looked shocked, but she listened to Zeroth and let him enter her mind.

"**No! Don't fall for them again, Marina!**" said Black Zeroth.

"Black Zeroth, you a freak. You are nothing but a fake imitation of my best friend. I never want to see you or be used by you again!" said Marina and she forced the black unicorn out.

The glowing disappeared, the sky returned to normal. Black Zeroth's blade bounced away into the distance.

"Marina…" said Tala. He was totally battered. Scratches everywhere.

"I did it…" said Marina and she collapsed unconscious.

Tala went over to her as fast as he could and held her in his arms.

"Tala?" asked Kai. He was also injured, but not that much. Just a few scratches.

"She's completely out. She must be exhausted." said Tala.

"Oh no…she is okay, right?" asked Tari, who was the most injured and Brooklyn was still supporting her.

"I don't know, Tar…" said Tala.

* * *

Over in the distance, Pyro had seen the battle.

"What a powerful girl. She could be useful someday to me. If she makes it, that is." he said quietly to himself then left.

* * *

Also, Boris had picked up Black Zeroth and taken off as well, since the others were so worried about Marina.

"I'm so sorry, Tala." said Tari.

"I am. It was mostly my fault." he said and tears slid down his cheeks.

"It's okay, Tala. Let it all out." said Bryan.

Kai helped Bryan in comforting Tala. Tari was hugging Brooklyn and crying into his chest. He was also crying, tears sliding down his cheeks.

"It's okay, Tala. You love her. It's okay to cry." said Kai. He himself was only barely holding tears back.

"Marina!" shouted Tala and cried more.

* * *

**Notes**

* * *

**What a cliffhanger. You'll find out in chapter 17 if Marina will be okay.**

**Remember what Pyro said about how Marina could be useful someday...**

**See ya when chapter 17 is up next week.**


	17. Memories Hurt

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade in any way. The only characters I own are Marina and Pyro as they are my OCs. I have permission to use Tari from my friend, Smiffyizdabest. Any other references I make are purely coincidental.

Chapter 17: Memories Hurt

Everyone had returned to the base and Marina still had not awoken. It was night now, but not everyone was having a peaceful night's sleep…

_She was just about to stand up when a sudden blow hit her back._

"_And if that wasn__'__t enough__…"__ started Boris and made the whip hit Marina__'__s back again._

_She could feel tears coming, but tried to hold them back. She didn__'__t want to give Boris the satisfaction._

"_You__'__re a glutton for punishment.__"__ he said as she attempted to stand up again._

_He cracked the whip again and it caught her arm this time, leaving a long cut._

"_Tarinfia made her grandfather go this far in the past. Even Tala got himself in trouble, but not quite as much.__"__ Boris smirked as Marina__'__s fists clenched._

"_Tarinfia is Tari__'__s full name, isn__'__t it?__"__ she asked. Boris nodded. __"__You and Voltaire did this to her!__"_

"_She made us. It was regrettable, but had to be done.__"__ said Boris, obviously lying._

_He cracked the whip a fourth time, this time catching her other arm and leaving a cut._

"_Tala was right, you__'__re heartless, no doubt about it.__"__ she said as she felt tears sliding down her cheeks._

_He hit her three more times, leaving multiple cuts on her arms._

"_Maybe you__'__ll learn now not to backchat to me__…__or disobey orders.__"__ he said as blood dripped to the floor from Marina__'__s wounds._

_She just nodded in defeat and as she looked down again at her injuries, the tears fell thicker._

"_Follow me__…__Now!__"__ he said._

_As he lifted the whip, Marina followed in fear of being hit again and Boris led her down the corridor._

"_In here.__"__ he opened the door and smiled to himself as she entered._

_About five or so minutes after closing the door, Marina screamed__…_

Marina bolted up in shock and fear. After looking around, she realised she was at home, safe and sound and that it had only been a nightmare, but she was still scared.

"_The last thing I want is nightmares now._" she said to herself and she slowly got her breath back.

She looked to the side of her and Tala was still sleeping peacefully, unaware anything had happened.

"_Shall I risk worrying him?_" she asked herself.

"_**You must tell him, Marina, before things get worse.**_" advised Zeroth to his friend.

Marina sat there and thought of the dream, when it got to the part where it finished and woke her, she felt terrified again. She got out of the bed and went to the window.

"_What can I do?_" she looked down at her hands and the blue tattoos on them and tears fell.

Tala heard something and woke up.

"Marina, you're awake. Are you okay?" he asked as he almost vaulted out of the bed, but stumbled since he was half asleep.

"I'll be okay, Tala." she said, not even turning to face him.

"You had a nightmare didn't you?" he asked walking over to her.

She nodded and turned. Tala saw the tears still falling from her eyes.

"Marina, it's over now. You're home and I'll never let anything happen to you again." he said. He put his arms round her and she cried into his chest.

* * *

When morning came, the others, who were worried about Marina, waited until Tala came down with her.

Kai was the first to look up when Tala and Marina entered the room.

"How is she, Tala?" he asked.

Tala just indicated that it's not good, and Kai understood.

"Cous?" Brooklyn asked as he walked over to her.

"I'm sorry…I betrayed all of you." said Marina slowly.

Tyson was about to say something when Tari stopped him.

"We understand, Marina." she said.

Marina sat down next to Tala, but she couldn't keep eye contact with anyone, especially Brooklyn.

"We should get out of here. Leave Tala and Marina to have some time alone." said Hiro.

They all agreed and left. Although Brooklyn didn't want to leave her, he did anyway.

"I know you must feel terrible, Marina, but we do understand it wasn't your fault." said Tala.

"I caused you all pain. Some more than others." she said namely thinking of Brooklyn and Tari.

As if Tala could read her mind, he said…

"I'm sure Zeus will return to Brooklyn and Tari has been through a lot before, she's fine."

Tears could be seen forming in Marina's eyes again and Tala tried to kiss her cheek, but she moved away. It just hit him he's taking it too quickly for her and he said a curse in Russian to himself.

* * *

In one of the other rooms, Tari and Brooklyn were alone together. Tari had been very quiet.

"Are you okay, Tari?" asked Brooklyn.

"I'm fine." lied Tari.

"Marina will be okay, in time." he said.

"I know. I've had the same problem…and I recovered." answered Tari slowly.

Brooklyn didn't want to ask, but he could put two and two together and make four.

"So Boris created some Black Spiked Tiger then?" he asked.

Tari nodded and turned away.

"I'm sorry, Tar." he said.

She looked back surprised; he hadn't used her nickname before.

"When did you find out my nickname?" she asked, almost smiling.

"I heard the other Russians using it at one point." he answered.

She nodded and looked into his aqua marine eyes. He looked straight back into her dark violet eyes.

"I love you, Tar." he said.

They moved their heads together, an inch away from kissing, when the door opened making them jump apart a bit.

"_Oh man, this is not my day._" said Brooklyn to himself. In the doorway was Kai.

"I told you what would happen if you went near Tari." said Kai, with anger present in his voice.

"Kai, leave it. This isn't a good time." said Tari.

"I'm not letting the nature boy get his fun then betray you, Tar." said Kai.

Brooklyn looked a little astonished at Kai's overprotective side.

"It's not like that, Kai." said Tari.

"Whatever it is, it'll be settled the old fashioned way." and he got his blade and launcher out. "Do you accept, Brooklyn?"

The others came over after hearing the commotion.

"Kai, what are you doing? This is so not the time to be settling scores." said Tala.

"He's right, Kai. Put your blade away." said Hiro, but Kai ignored him.

Marina just looked between both bladers. Kai's look of slight anger and Brooklyn's look which signified he would agree to the challenge.

"Don't do it, Brooklyn." she said entering the room and standing next to him.

"I'm sorry, Marina, but some things have to be taken care of sooner rather than later." answered Brooklyn, getting out his blade and launcher.

"Fine then. Follow me." said Kai.

* * *

When the gang were outside and the two bladers were facing each other across a dish, it was time for the ultimate rematch.

"Bladers ready? 3…2…1…let it rip!" shouted Bryan.

The blades were released and Kai's blue blade went to attack the black blade immediately.

"You don't have the advantage this time, Brooklyn. I do." said Kai.

Brooklyn remembered in the blink of an eye, Kai was right. His black blade couldn't hold up to Dranzer while Zeus was gone.

"Dranzer, attack!" shouted Kai and the blue blade smashed into the black blade, making it go backwards to the edge of the dish.

"Counterattack." said Brooklyn and his black blade charged towards the blue blade, but barely did a thing.

Tari was torn; she didn't know who she wanted to win this battle. Marina was worried about Brooklyn since he was fighting alone this time.

"Dranzer, Blazing Gig!" shouted Kai.

The attack came at Brooklyn's black blade and just before it hit…

"Brooklyn, you can do it. Believe in yourself!" shouted Marina, cheering her cousin on.

Brooklyn felt an uprising of power.

"Thank you, cous." he said smiling. "Kai, this battle is mine. Zeus!"

In a flash, the demon returned in all his glory and roared.

"Zeus." said Tari. She was smiling now that Brooklyn was back in the game.

"_Dranzer's weakened and now that Zeus is back, my chances just plummeted._" said Kai to himself as he watched the phoenix and demon battle it out.

"King of Darkness!" shouted Brooklyn.

The amazing black vortex enveloped Dranzer and the phoenix started to screech in pain.

"Hold on, Dranzer." said Kai.

Tari's blade started glowing. Spiked Tiger was reacting to Dranzer's pain.

"_Spiked Tiger?_" she turned to Brooklyn. "Stop the battle before you go too far!"

"Show them Zeus' power, cous." said Marina.

Brooklyn did one final attack and Kai's blue blade went flying out the dish.

"And the winner is Brooklyn Kingston." said Hiro, almost smiling.

Marina walked over to Brooklyn and smiled that what she had done to him was over. Zeus was back.

"Welcome back, Zeus." said Brooklyn to his bit piece. He then hugged Marina.

Tari walked over to Kai who was examining his blade. It was a little damaged.

"I tried my best and failed. Brooklyn better keep you safe and happy." he said.

"Thank you, Kai." she said and he turned round. "For standing up for me, but I'm sure Brooklyn will not hurt me."

Kai nodded and was about to walk away.

"Um, Kai?" he turned back. "Don't you want your blade fixed?"

He chuckled. His little sister was good at fixing blades.

Marina looked at Tala who was happy she was smiling again. He just hoped it would last.


	18. One Last Hope

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade in any way. The only characters I own are Marina and Pyro as they are my OCs. I have permission to use Tari from my friend, Smiffyizdabest. Any other references I make are purely coincidental.

Chapter 18: One Last Hope

_Marina laughed as Kai attempted to attack her again and she avoided, seeing as he wasn't falling for the stealing-energy trick again._

"_How am I getting weaker like this? I know I can do better." said Kai to himself as he panted a little._

"_You look a little tired. Good. This match is mine. Lightning Flash Beam!"_

_The electric shield concentrated a beam and aimed it at Kai. When it hit, it made him slip down to one knee._

"_No! She can't do that! Jazzman!" shouted Tyson._

"_I wish I could help, but I can't get into this shield." said Jazzman. "Marina, if you attack the blader directly again, the match will go to the Bladebreakers!" he added to Marina._

"_I don't care about the tournament anymore. Stay out of this or you might be risking your own well-being!" shouted Marina at Jazzman._

"_He might not win. I hate to say it, but this can be worse than the match with BEGA." said Ray._

_Kai collapsed again as another electric beam hit him._

"_Was that better, Kai? Don't tell me you need more." Kai looked up again, furious that she was holding him down like this. "You are determined. I see how Brooklyn lost, but that doesn't mean I can't take you down and get revenge."_

"_Is it time? Is she going to reveal It to everyone?" asked Tala to himself._

_She shot another electrical beam at Kai and he screamed as he collapsed again. These constant blasts of electricity not only hurt, but were making him feel numb, which wasn't helpful._

"_Why would…you want revenge for…Brooklyn, anyway?" he asked weakly. He was now struggling to get onto his knees, let alone his feet._

"_I guess I can tell you now. You can't even stand. I have to get revenge for Brooklyn because he's my cousin and you gave him his first taste of defeat!"_

Small time skip in dream:

_Marina had tears pouring from her dark green eyes which only increased as she truly focused on what she had done._

"_No! I can't do this! I can't!" she shouted and the electrical shield expanded._

_Everyone ran away as it exploded into blasts of electricity all around the stadium._

The scene changed to another vision.

_Back in the alley, Marina was starting to feel cold and Zeroth was losing any chance he might have._

"_You're not going to last, Marina. I have won this battle." said Tala with an evil smile on his face._

_Marina let tears fall thick and fast as she realised Tala was right._

"_I'm not going to win. Tala has changed so much and Zeroth isn't helping me." she said to herself and she fell to her knees._

"_Well, I thought I knew you better than this. Giving up?" Tala said and then laughed as Marina looked up with anger in her eyes._

"_Zeroth. Go get him with all your power!"_

_However, Zeroth didn't, in fact, he did the opposite, and he disappeared back into his beyblade._

"_No, don't give up! Zeroth!" she shouted desperately._

"_Perfect. Now, Wolborg, Novae Rog!"_

_His attack let out a wave of blue energy which, when hit Marina, made her fall flat on her back._

Marina woke up in shock and looked around. Again, it had just been a nightmare, but she was scared all the same. She looked to her side and saw Tala sleeping peacefully. Tears went down her cheeks and she noticed Zeroth glowing on the desk table.

"Zeroth?" she asked quietly and went over to her blade. She picked it up and it felt warm.

Tala woke up, having heard Marina.

"Marina? Are you okay?" he asked.

She nodded and went back over to the bed.

"Another nightmare I'm guessing." he said as she sat down.

"Two flashbacks…one was what I did to Kai three years ago." she said.

"In your first tournament. Go on." he said looking at her in concern.

"And the other was what you did to me…when you lost control of your emotions." she said and looked away from him.

Tala looked a little guilty. He remembered that full well and ever since, it had left him feeling bad about it.

"It will be okay, Marina." he said and put an arm around her. She lay her head on his chest and tears lightly fell.

* * *

The next day, Marina was very quiet and she didn't even look at Kai, which made him wonder what had happened during the night.

Tala didn't want to leave Marina alone, but he needed to somehow sort this out and try to help her. Hiro and Kenny were stuck for ideas. They didn't think there was any simple method of ending Marina's nightmares. It would just take time.

"Any luck, bro?" asked Tyson.

"No, Tyson. Stop asking. I'll let everyone know when we have an idea…if we get one that is." Hiro said and turned back to Kenny's laptop which had data of Black Zeroth.

"Couldn't we try destroying Black Zeroth? Maybe it still being alive and having a connection with her is making things worse." suggested Tyson.

"Nice one, Ty. Great idea." said Hiro sarcastically.

"What?" asked Tyson.

"We just can't simply destroy it. We don't even know where Boris took it." answered Hiro and Tyson nodded knowing his brother was right.

In another room, Brooklyn was spending time with Marina.

"Are you okay, cous?" he asked.

"What do you think?" she asked a little harshly.

"Right. Sorry." he said and turned away for a bit.

After a while, Marina let a tear fall and Brooklyn noticed.

"Marina?" he asked.

"It's nothing. I just had two visions in my nightmare last night." she answered.

"I wish I could help, Marina, but I can't. You've helped me a lot in the past, but I've never managed to help you in return. I'm not much of a cousin." said Brooklyn sadly.

"Don't be like that, Brookie. You're the best cousin ever." she said and smiled a little.

Even Brooklyn chuckled. Marina hadn't called him by his nickname in years.

"You're right, Marina. We are a great team." and the two of them smiled.

* * *

In one of the lower rooms, Tari was working on Dranzer while Kai talked to Tala.

"Tala, what did happen last night?" Kai asked.

"Marina had two visions in her nightmare. One was what she did to you in that tournament three years ago." answered Tala.

"That explains why she was avoiding looking at me. What was the other vision?"

"What I did to her when I lost control…" said Tala slowly.

"That was when I found her frozen from battling you, wasn't it?" asked Kai and Tala nodded.

"Will she be okay?" asked Tari as she put Kai's blade back together with a new attack ring.

"In time." answered Kai.

"Like how I recovered from Black Spiked Tiger…I just hope Marina doesn't share my problems…" said Tari.

"It's okay, Tar. Nothing will happen to you or Marina again." said Tala. "Myself, Kai and Brooklyn will make sure of that."

"Thanks." said Tari. She smiled a bit and Kai smiled too.

"Hey, you three. I think we have a plan. Get up here!" called Hiro.

The three of them lightly frowned at being ordered around, but went upstairs anyway. Once they reached the main room, everyone else was already there.

"We have a plan to try and help stop what's happening to Marina." Hiro started.

"Get on with it." said Bryan in frustration.

"Well, we tried to track Black Zeroth's signal and failed so we decided, and we know you might not like this, to use Marina's connection with the black unicorn to find it." continued Hiro.

"Are you completely insane? We can't use Marina like that." said Tala angrily.

"You have a better idea, spit it out, Tala." said Hiro. Tala just growled. "So, any more objections?"

"How do you even know Marina will use this connection? She doesn't want to see that blade again. Thinking about it to find it is the opposite of what she's trying to do." said Brooklyn.

"Please, cous." said Marina and she stepped forward. "I will do it."

"Are you sure?" asked Tala.

"Yes. If this is our only chance, then let's go for it." she said.

"Well, we'll set off as soon as Marina has found that connection." said Hiro and he sat down.

* * *

Within an hour of focusing on Black Zeroth, Marina was letting tears fall, but she kept going.

"I don't like this plan, Kai." whispered Tari to her brother.

"Nor do I, but I have faith in Marina." answered Kai.

* * *

Half an hour later, Marina saw a flash of the black unicorn in her mind and collapsed forward breathing heavily.

"Marina?" asked Tala and he ran over to her with Brooklyn.

"I've found it. Follow me." she said determinedly and stood up.

And so, they all left the base and followed Marina, through ice and snow and some small, but rocky, hills.

"Oh, this had better be worth it." said Tyson shivering.

"Get some backbone, Tyson. It's straight ahead." said Marina, and as Tyson frowned, Tala chuckled.

They went over one more hill and all gasped. There was an average sized, black, stone building with smoke rising out the top.

"How on earth did Boris get that without anyone knowing?" asked Bryan.

"Money, security and some brains." said Kai, though he didn't like admitting that Boris was a fairly smart man.

"Where is it in there, Marina?" asked Brooklyn.

"Somewhere in that direction." she said pointing to one of the far corners of the building.

"Let's go and be careful of any traps." said Hiro.

They all headed down to the building and hid in the bushes.

"How do you suppose we're going to get in?" asked Ray quietly.

"Over there." said Ian pointing.

There was a low window and no security around it.

"Nice one, shrimp." said Tari smiling and they headed to the window.

"Kai, you're going to have to get us up there." said Tyson who couldn't get up that high.

Kai just smirked at his dopey, navy haired team-mate.

Eventually, they all got in and Marina led the way next.

"Watch it." said Kai quietly and he grabbed Marina from behind, pulling her back as a guard turned the corner and walked away.

"That was close. Thanks." she said and then they continued on.

They went down a further four passageways and heard a voice.

"Intruders in sector six."

"Not good." they all muttered.

They made a run for it and went down a narrow corridor. Halfway down it, a thick glass wall came down stopping them in their tracks. They turned back and a second glass wall came down. They were trapped.

"You people never change." said a voice and they all turned to see Boris walking over.


	19. Love Conquers All

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade in any way. The only characters I own are Marina and Pyro as they are my OCs. I have permission to use Tari from my friend, Smiffyizdabest. Any other references I make are purely coincidental.

Chapter 19: Love Conquers All

The guys were all trapped and now had to wait to see what Boris would do with them.

"Only half of you fools are useful to me." said Boris smirking.

They all looked at him angrily.

"Marina, you must use Black Zeroth again. The power is all you need." said Boris.

"Forget it. I am not interested in that blade." she said.

"You say that now, but when you use it again, you'll be asking to keep it with you at all times." he said smirking evilly.

"You will never use her again, Boris." said Tala.

"You think she has a choice? Remember, Tala…she is mine." Boris said.

Tala looked at Marina's hands with the blue tattoos on them and growled.

"I'm not yours! I don't belong to anyone!" she shouted.

Boris just walked away and left them there.

"You showed him. He isn't harming you again." said Brooklyn. "And I am getting us out of here." he added readying his launcher.

He powered up his blade with a purple and black glow then released it crashing through the glass.

"Cous, lead the way and we'll finish that freak." he said.

They headed off and avoided the guards well.

"This way I think." she said pointing and they followed her.

Boris was watching them on a viewscreen.

"Find it, Marina. Find it again and betray them." he smirked.

They entered a room full of broken down machines.

"Look at this stuff." said Kenny in amazement.

"Kenny, it's all broken." said Tyson.

"Well, it's still amazing technology. Such a well crafted design." he was about to press a button when Kai grabbed him.

"Are you brain dead? Don't touch anything." said Kai and he released the nerd.

Marina walked on and shivered. It was cold and felt so nerve wracking in this room.

"It feels like something is in here waiting to strike." said Tala.

"I agree. Keep your eyes open." said Kai.

Tari was hiding her fear, but she was walking very close to Kai.

"Not much further." said Marina.

They reached a locked door.

"Oh great. It would be locked." said Brooklyn.

Kai and Tala released their blades together and shattered a hole through the door. It opened easily. The two blades returned to their owners.

"There it is." said Hiro.

On a platform with chains was the black and red blade.

"No…" said Marina and she stepped backwards.

"Calm down, cous." said Brooklyn standing behind her with his hands on her shoulders.

She just stood there, wide-eyed, staring at the blade. All the things she had done with it flashed through her mind.

"Marina. Calm down, Marina." said a voice that Marina wasn't focusing on.

"Marina!" shouted Tala and jerked her out of her thoughts.

She looked at him scared and shaking then he hugged her.

"It'll be okay. We have to destroy it." he said.

"You aren't destroying anything." said Boris entering the room.

"Get lost, Boris!" said Tala and immediately got his blade and launcher ready.

"Tala, listen to me. Marina will not destroy that blade. She needs power and is tempted again." said Boris.

"No, she needs freedom and love. She will never be tempted again." said Tala.

The others were standing to the side as Boris and Tala argued. Marina was listening to both of them; she wasn't sure who was right.

"Tala, she is mine and she will use that blade." said Boris.

"She isn't yours. She belongs to no one and she will do what she wants." argued Tala.

"Okay then. Marina, what do you want?" asked Boris.

She looked at him and then looked at Tala.

"Marina, please. He wants to use you." said Tala.

"No, Marina. I'll give you what you want. Power beyond your wildest dreams." said Boris.

"What's power without emotions? Don't be tricked, Marina." begged Tala.

Suddenly, a brick fell from the ceiling and landed on Tala's foot making him scream.

"Tala!" shouted Tari.

Tala held back any tears and tried to stay balanced on his other foot.

"You see, Marina. That weakling…" laughed Boris.

Marina growled.

They all heard sounds and Hiro looked round.

"It can't be. It is." he said smiling.

BBA guards rushed in and grabbed Boris, dragging him out the room then Mr. Dickinson entered.

"Mr. Dickinson?" they all said in shock, except Hiro.

"You didn't think Hiro would come here without informing me did you?" the old man asked.

Tala looked at Marina then they both looked at Black Zeroth.

"Let it rip!" they both shouted and released their blades at Black Zeroth. Their blades seemed to combine and shattered the black and red blade.

"Well, that problem is over." said Tyson smiling.

"Marina, I can help you with something." said Mr. Dickinson.

"You can?" she asked.

"Those markings on your hands. I can pay for an operation to have them removed." he said.

"Really? Oh, thank you, Mr. D!" and she gave the old man a big hug.

"No problem, Marina." he said smiling. "And don't worry Tala; we'll get your foot checked over."

Marina went over to Tala and helped support him.

The whole gang left the building and took two helicopters to the hospital. On the way, Marina fell asleep on Tala, she was exhausted. Tari was leaning on Brooklyn and they were both smiling. Kai was smiling as well. Finally, things were looking better.

* * *

Three days later and things were sorted. Marina's tattoos removed and her scars looking better. Tala's foot bandaged and not hurting as much. They returned to their base to have a little celebration.

"I've never been happier." said Tala. "And I don't think Kai has either."

Kai had been smiling a lot more recently, but at that line, he lightly frowned at Tala who just smirked at him.

"It's been a while since I went to a party like this." said Tari who was standing next to Brooklyn.

"It's pretty cool and at least at this party, my arm is okay." said Bryan.

"That's great. Three years ago: your arm. Now: my foot." said Tala.

"Forget it, Tala. It doesn't matter." said Bryan.

Ian looked nervously at Bryan.

"What's wrong, shrimp?" asked Tari.

"Remember what Bryan did to me when he last got drunk?" asked Ian.

Tari started laughing and the others looked at her.

"It wasn't funny." said Ian frowning.

"You know, Tar, you should stop wearing that face paint." suggested Brooklyn.

"Brooklyn, you're going to need to know something about Tari if you stay as her boyfriend." said Kai.

"What?" he asked.

"Her full name." Kai replied.

Brooklyn looked at Tari who was lightly frowning at Kai.

"My full name is Tarinfia, but don't you dare ever use it." she said to Brooklyn.

"I won't." said Brooklyn smiling.

Kai smirked.

"And why should I stop wearing my face paint?" she asked.

"You look more beautiful without it…which is hard to say considering how great you look with it." he said and Kai rolled his eyes.

"Thanks, Brooklyn. Okay, I'll stop wearing it." she said and leant on his arm.

Tala and Marina looked at each other.

"I love you, Marina." he said.

"And I love you, Tala." she said.

They were about to kiss when…

"Help me! Bryan's drunk!"

"Stupid shrimp." everyone said together and laughed.

* * *

**Notes**

* * *

**And that ends this story, but no worries. My third story "Loyalties" will be coming next week.**


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